Monthly Archives: May 2026

RED RASPBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE HAND PIES

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I saw an online picture of Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Raspberry Hand Pies and needed an excuse to try to make covered pastry without the fork-crimp marks. (As if I ever need an excuse.)

A couple of weeks again I made some Vol au Vents and did not fork-crimp the edges to make the “boat” that would hold the fillings.

I applied the same method on these pastries. Egg wash the edges of the bottom piece, add the filling and place cover on top and press all around the edges. Because the bottom will be larger due to the cover needing to bend over the filling, Tuck any excess puff pastry back into the seam and press it down again.

The recipe specified excessive filling. Next time I will cut the cream cheese etc in half and there may still be too much. (The recipe below was modified.) The alternative, of course, is to make twice as many hand pies.

I also used two batches of Sally’s Rough Puff Pastry rather than the original baker’s source, sorry Pep.

RED RASPBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE HAND PIES

INGREDIENTS
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbl water
• 2 Tbl all-purpose flour
• 1 package puff pastry
• 56 g ( 1/4 of an 8-ounce package) cream cheese, softened
• 1 Tbl granulated sugar or decorating sugar
• 42g ( 1/4 c) white chocolate chips
• ~170 g (6 oz) raspberries
• ~3 Tbl coarse white sugar or decorating sugar

METHOD

  1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
  2. Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 12-inch square. Using a round cutter, cut into 16 (3-inch) circles. I gather the scraps, squeeze them into a ball and re-roll. I know it will lose some rise, but not enough to care. I ended up with 19 circles. Enough to make 9 pastries and fold the odd one in half, fill with desired berry mixture and seat. It’s a great way to test the final bake.
  3. Stir the cream cheese and granulated sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
  4. Brush the edges of 12 pastry circles with the egg mixture. Place about 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture in the center of each. Top each with about 3 raspberries or the equivalent amount of black or blue berries. Place the remaining pastry circles over the filling. Press the edges firmly to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork. Brush the pastries with the egg mixture and sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Using a sharp knife, cut small slits in the tops of the filled pastries. Place the pastries onto 2 baking sheets.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.

Happy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel Mother’s Day

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The primary recipes for this months Sally’s Baking Challenge is Frosted Strawberry Cookies and the alternate is Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel. She had me a “chocolate.”

These muffins may be a bit chocolate forward, i.e., the chocolate overpowers the banana, Next time I will cut the amount of chocolate back by a third or so. Nonetheless, these muffins are delicious, moist and definitely a keeper.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel

Yield: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS
Streusel
• 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 50g ( ¼ c) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 135g ( ¾ c) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Muffins
• 208g (1 and ⅔ c) all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 85g (6 Tbl) RT unsalted butter
• 100g ( ½ c) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 345g (1½ c) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large bananas)
• 60g ( ¼ c) plain yogurt or sour cream

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
  2. Mix all the streusel ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  4. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed in a large bowl until creamed, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the mashed bananas and yogurt, and then beat on high speed until combined; mixture will look curdled and that’s ok.
  5. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Batter is thick. Do not overmix.
  6. Layer a large spoonful (about 1½ Tablespoons, 20ml scoop) of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle with 1 scant Tablespoon of streusel. Layer another large spoonful of batter over each, using up the remaining batter, then finish by sprinkling remaining streusel on top of each muffin. The 12 muffin cups should be filled all the way to the very top. With a toothpick or knife, gently swirl the streusel topping with the batter.
  7. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 15–16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20–21 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling, or enjoy warm.
  8. Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Notes

  1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then warm up in the microwave if desired.
  2. Frozen Bananas: You can use thawed frozen bananas in this muffin recipe. Thawed bananas are extra wet, so drain off as much of the excess liquid as you can before mashing.
  3. Yogurt or Sour Cream: You can use either regular or Greek plain yogurt in this recipe (any fat content) or sour cream. In a pinch, 1/4 cup (60ml) buttermilk may be substituted.
  4. Why the initial high oven temperature? Like I do for most muffin recipes, bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a very hot temperature. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, switch to a lower temperature for the remaining bake time. This initial high temperature will quickly lift the muffin tops so they’re extra high, then the centers will bake during the lower temperature bake time.

Olive Bread Sticks

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I don’t know what prompted my desire for olive bread sticks, but here we are again. These bread sticks are SO good. They are a bit of a pain (the forming and cutting and placing on the cookie sheet) to make, but worth it.

Learning from my previous bake I cut the whole, pitted olives in half as the previous ones were just too big.

The pain part
The payoff part

AND… as long as the oven was on, I used a long, thin Dutch oven to make a nice sized artisan loaf for sandwiches, (and to eat slathered with butter.)

Olive Bread Sticks

(Paul Hollywood Method and Recipe)

  • INGREDIENTS
  • 500g bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 10g salt
  • 10g instant yeast
  • 400ml tepid water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for oiling
  • 500 g/1 lb jar pitted green olives in brine, drained fine semolina, for dusting (optional)
  • 6g (4 Tbl) finely chopped rosemary (optional)
  • 3g (2 Tbl) capers (optional)


METHOD

  1. Oil proofing bucket
  2. Put the flour into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add three-quarters of the water and begin mixing on a slow speed. As the dough starts to come together, gradually add the remaining water.
  3. Mix for a further 5-8 minutes on a medium speed. The dough should now be wet and stretch easily when pulled. Add the olive oil and mix for a further two minutes. Add the olives, (rosemary and capers, optional) mix until well-distributed.
  4. Put the dough into the oiled containers and leave until it has at least tripled in size – for approximately an hour.
  5. Line two baking trays with parchment or silicone paper and preheat the oven to 425F Convection. My oven automatically drops the temp to 400F when using Convection.
  6. Dust the work surface heavily with flour – add some semolina too, if you have some. Carefully tip the dough onto the surface. It will be very loose and flowing – but don’t worry. Rather than knocking it back, handle it gently so that you keep as much air in the dough as possible.
  7. Heavily dust the top of the dough with flour and then stretch it out gently to a rough rectangle. Starting at one long edge, cut the dough into approximately 18 strips. Stretch each piece out until 8-10in long. Place the strips onto the prepared baking trays, spacing them apart to allow for oven rise.
  8. Bake the dough sticks for 10-15 minutes until the tops are a golden brown.
  9. Cool on wire rack. I use a brush to remove some of the excess flour.