RECIPES ~ SWEETS FOR THE WINTER DOLDRUMS.

Cinnamon Rolls - often mistaken for basenji tails.
recommended by Lisa Osenni, with photos by Lisa.

Lisa says: Kamran Siddiqi's "Handmade Baking" is my go-to book for treats. The second part of the title is "Recipes to Warm the Heart", because these foods are connected to his memories as a child, and other life experiences. The recipes are simple and foolproof, with easy to follow step-by-step instructions. I've made his Brooklyn Crumb Cake countless times and it's always a hit wherever I bring it. In fact everything I have baked from this book has been well received.

For HOW TO Do this, see HERE.

Here is the progression of the cinnamon rolls:

Yum, Yum, Yum.

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Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies
recommended by Anna Fiecter

YIELD24 cookies
TIME45 minutes, plus chilling

These wildly popular cookies were developed by Alison Roman for her cookbook, “Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes.” “I’ve always found chocolate chip cookies to be deeply flawed (to know this about me explains a lot),” she writes. “Too sweet, too soft, or with too much chocolate, there’s a lot of room for improvement, if you ask me. But no one asked me, and rather than do a complete overhaul on the most iconic cookie known to man, I took all my favorite parts and invented something else entirely. Made with lots of salted butter (it has a slightly different flavor and a deeper saltiness than using just salt), the dough has just enough flour to hold it together and the right amount of light brown sugar to suggest a chocolate chip cookie.”

INGREDIENTS
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/255 grams total (2¼ sticks) salted butter, cold (room temperature if you're using a handheld mixer), cut into ½-inch pieces (see note)
½ cup/101 grams granulated sugar
¼ cup/55 grams light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups/326 grams all-purpose flour (see note)
6 ounces/170 grams semi-sweet or bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped (not too fine; you want chunks, not little shards)
1 large egg, beaten
Demerara sugar, for rolling
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

PREPARATION
Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer, beat the butter, both sugars and vanilla on medium-high till it’s super light and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes for a stand mixer; 6 to 8 for a hand mixer). Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl and, with the mixer on low, slowly add the flour, followed by the chocolate chunks, and mix just to blend. If necessary, knead the dough with your hands to make sure the flour is totally incorporated. At this point, the dough should be smooth and feel like Play-Doh with no pockets of flour.
Divide the dough in half, placing each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold the plastic over so that it covers the dough to protect your hands from getting all sticky. Using your hands, form the dough into a log shape; rolling it on the counter will help you smooth it out, but don’t worry about getting it totally perfect. (Don't be afraid to make them compact. Shortbread is supposed to be dense. That's part of why it's so good.) You can also do this using parchment paper, if you prefer, but plastic wrap is easier when it comes to shaping the log. Each half should form a 6-inch log, 2 to 2¼ inches in diameter. Chill until totally firm, about 2 hours.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the outside of the logs with the beaten egg and roll them in the demerara sugar (this is for those really delicious, crisp edges).
Using a serrated knife, carefully slice each log into ½-inch-thick rounds (if you hit a chocolate chunk, slowly saw back and forth through the chocolate). If the cookies break or fall apart, just press them back together — the dough is very forgiving. Place them on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart (they won’t spread much). Sprinkle with flaky salt. Bake until the edges are just beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating them all.

Tips
The cookie dough can be made ahead and stored, tightly wrapped in plastic, up to 1 week in the refrigerator, or 1 month in the freezer. Cookies can be baked and stored in plastic wrap or an airtight container for 5 days.

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Skillet Upside-Down Cake
recommended by S K-M

I used organic canned pineapple once, & fresh pineapple another time, & both were good.

This is yummy. Recipe from well used Joy of Cooking, with notations by Merle Marsicano, from long long l o n g ago.

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Lemon Yogurt Breakfast Cake, or Ciambella
from "the view from great island"

Dry ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Wet ingredients
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup whole milk yogurt
zest from 1 or 2 lemons
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (zest your lemon before juicing!)
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F
Butter and flour and bundt pan.
Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
Beat the eggs for 2 minutes until pale and thick. Gradually beat in the sugar.
Blend in the rest of the wet ingredients and mix well.
Fold in the dry ingredients and mix just until completely blended.
Turn the batter into the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it.

Don't over bake.
Let the cake cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out. I like to flip it over so the rough edge faces up.
Let cool completely before dusting with sugar.

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