Send us your recipes!  Nuts and fruits are used in everything from appetizers to desserts. We have some great bakers and cooks among our customers. Almost every day we have people talking about their fruitcakes, macadamia chocolate cookies, pesto, Indian desserts, Persian holiday rice, and much more.   Email us your recipe, and we will post it on this site.  Please email your name (as you want me list you), where you are from, and the name of the recipe along with the recipe.   Thank you!
 
List of recipes
    Traditional Pecan Bread
    Butter Ball Cookies
    Apricot Oatmeal Cookies
    Fig Cookies
 
 

 

 

TRADITIONAL PECAN BREAD- yield 1 loaf
Dottie Gauvin
Port Orchard, WA 98366

 This is not only easy to make but it becomes your favorite bread very quickly because of the ease in making plus the good taste!
 
2        cups flour
2        tsp. baking powder
3/4    cup sugar (or Splenda)
1        tsp. salt
1        cup milk
1        egg beaten
3/4    cup chopped pecans
 
Sift dry ingredients together.  Mix milk and beaten egg and add to dry mixture.  Mix thoroughly but do not beat.  Stir in pecans.  Bake in a greased loaf pan at 360 degrees F. about 1 hour, or until a straw comes out clean. Best kept for a day or two then sliced as thin as possible and served with butter or cream ches; also freezes well.
   
P.S. I was born in Texas so know the value of anything with pecans therein!!!!!

 

BUTTER BALL COOKIES
Nancy Thomas

A  family favorite for as long as I can remember and thats 62 yrs.
              oven 350 degrees, cook about 17-20 minutes, just to golden brown on bottom

1 cup Oleo ( works better than butter, I use a good quality)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups sifted flour (again sifted works better)
1 tsp vanilla.
1 cup pecan pieces
     Beat oleo until smooth, add pdr. sug., then flour, a little at a time, then vanilla and  pecans.
     Roll in walnut size ball, and place on a cookie sheet (I use parchment paper for quick clean up and pretty bottoms of cookies)
      After cooling on rack, roll in extra powdered sugar.  Delicious and freeze well. Makes great gifts.

 

APRICOT OATMEAL COOKIES- yield 4 1/2 dozen
Adapted from Goodhousekeeping Magazine 10/2006, p. 214
Submitted by Bobbi Armand

1 c. butter - softened                                  3 c. oats, uncooked
1 c. packed light brown sugar                    1 c. chopped dried Turkish apricots
1/2 c. granulated sugar                               3/4 c. dried cranberries
2 large eggs                                                3/4 c. sweetened coconut flakes
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour                             3/4 c. slivered almonds, toasted
1 tsp baking soda                                        1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat butter & sugars 2 minutes or until creamy.  Reduce speed to low, beat in eggs, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, almond extract, and salt until just blended.  Stir in oats & remaining ingredients.

Drop by rounded tablespoons (note: I use a melon scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheet, or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake 14-15 minutes or until tops are golden.  Cool cookies on wire racks.
 

                                            FIG COOKIES -  from Nancy Maranto
 
Dough:
 
Cream together:  2 sticks butter
                        1 1/2 cups sugar
 
Add:  3 eggs
         1 tsp. vanilla
         1/4 tsp. salt
         5 cups flour
         3 tsp. baking powder


Chill dough until easy to handle without sticking too much.  This dough behaves much like sugar cookie dough as far as not being able to handle if it gets too warm.
 
Filling:
 
1 lb. dried figs
1/2 large jar mincement
1/2 pkg. golden raisins
1/2 jar orange marmalade
1-2 cups chopped nuts (we prefer pecans, but walnuts are good, too)
 
Place figs in food processor and chop well.  Add mincement, raisins and marmalade; blend together with figs.   Fold in chopped nuts (my daughter likes to also add finely chopped chocolate to her fruit/nut mixture, but the old time Italian fig cookies don't use chocolate).
 
Take a fistfull of dough in your hands and, shape into a log about 5-6" long and the roundness of a quarter.  Place on lightly floured surface and roll into a 6-8" x 4-5" rectangle.  Place a line of filling mixture down center and roll it up like a log.  Place seam side down and slice on an angle to desired thickness.  Anything less than 3/4" is too thin.  Some cut the slices up to 2" wide.  Try a few and see what you like best.
Note:  Don't be tempted to work with a larger amount of dough because it gets soft rather quickly and it can be difficult to handle.
 
Place on parchment-paper-lined baking sheet on bottom rack of 375 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes; move pan to center of oven and bake 10 more minutes.   When you move the first batch to the center of the oven, you can place a new batch of cookies on the bottom rack, and continue on that way until you've baked them all.  Note:  If you don't have time to make all the cookies in one day, the dough and the filling will keep in the refrigerator quite nicely for several days, if you cover it tightly.
 
Store cookies in airtight container.  We usually store ours in the freezer, keeping out only enough for the cookie jar.
 
Some people ice their cookies and decorate with sprinkles.  My family prefers them without icing.  Also, there are small children in the family and Royale Icing contains uncooked powdered egg whites.