Almond Schnecken Recipes

GRANDMA DOUGLAS'S SCHNECKEN

Steps:

• 1. To make the dough, melt the 1/2 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the milk and sugar and heat just to lukewarm (about 110°F), stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the warm milk mixture into a bowl. Stir in the yeast. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes, then stir in the salt.
• 2. Beat the whole egg and egg yolk together and add to the yeast mixture. Stir in the flour 1 cup at a time until you have a sticky dough. Scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until you have a nice smooth dough. Butter a large bowl. Place the dough in the prepared bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours, until tripled in volume.
• 3. Meanwhile, brush a 9 × 13-inch baking pan with some melted butter (or spray it with vegetable oil spray). To prepare the sugar-pecan topping, melt the butter with the brown sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from the heat and spread the mixture in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans.
• 4. Punch down the dough and turn it out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for a minute, then use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle about 15 × 12 inches and 1/8 inch thick. To make the cinnamon-sugar filling, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and allow it to cool. Brush the butter thoroughly over the surface of the dough. In a bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the melted butter. Roll the rectangle up, like a jelly roll, along one long edge.
• 5. Slice the log of rolled dough into 1-inch-thick slices and arrange the slices, cut sides up, in the prepared pan. Cover the pan with a piece of plastic wrap (you can spray the plastic wrap first with vegetable oil spray to be sure it doesn't stick to the dough) and allow it to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.
• 6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the schnecken until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Check them occasionally during the baking time, and if they seem to be browning too quickly, loosely cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil.
• 7. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Turn the schnecken out of the pan while still warm by inverting the pan over a large platter or baking sheet. Serve the schnecken warm.

ALMOND SCHNECKEN

Steps:

• From one end of the finished dough, cut off a single slice that represents a generous one-tenth of the dough. Place this on a floured board, tap it out lengthwise and crosswise with pastry pin and then roll it out into an extremely thin sheet that will fit in the bottom of a large (say, 11-by- 16-inch) baking pan. (This requires patience, but at least you can be firm and aggressive: a bit of cutting, fitting and patching may be necessary, but all you really need to achieve is the covering of the entire bottom of the pan.)
• Place this thin tissue of dough in the bottom of the pan and let it rest. Roll out the remaining dough into a rectangle measuring 18 inches wide, and of whatever length it comes to when you have made it a uniform quarter-inch in thickness.
• Mix the almond paste with beaten egg until it has a spreadable consistency (adding almond extract as desired, for more flavor).
• Spread the almond paste over the entire rectangle of dough (except for 1 inch on one of the 18-inch sides) and roll the dough up into a loose ''jelly roll'' 18 inches long (rolling toward the edge left free of almond paste). Dab a bit of water along this edge with your finger and seal the roll firmly.
• Restretch the thin tissue of dough in the pan to cover the bottom completely and sprinkle it with the grated chocolate and with sugar as desired.
• Cut the roll of dough crosswise into 15 schnecken and arrange them evenly on top of the sheet in 3 rows of 5 each. Let rise in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours, or until doubled in bulk (the dough, being cold, will take a while to get going).
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush the tops of the risen schnecken with beaten egg, sprinkle on sugar as desired and bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown (lower heat if they seem to brown too quickly).

ALMOND CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine the first five ingredients in a large bowl; add the chicken and stir well. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the chicken mixture, stirring well. Set aside. (Use this time to chop vegetables).
• Pour 1 tbsp oil around the top of a preheated wok, coating the sides; heat at medium-high (325 degrees) for 1 minute.
• Add the celery and mushrooms and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the snow peas, and stir fry 1 to 2 minutes. Add the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the wok; set aside, and keep warm.
• Pour the remaining 1 tbsp oil around the top of the wok, coating the sides; heat at medium high for 1 minute. Add the reserved chicken mixture; stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vegetable mixture, almonds, and green onions, and stir fry 1 to 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

SLOW-COOKER ALMOND CHICKEN

Steps:

• Spray 3 1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides.
• In slow cooker, place onion, garlic, gingerroot, 1 cup almonds and the water chestnuts. Add chicken. In small bowl, mix 1 cup of the broth and 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce; pour over chicken.
• Cover; cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours (or on High heat setting 4 hours).
• In small bowl, mix cornstarch, wine, sugar, and remaining 1/4 cup broth and 2 tablespoons soy sauce with whisk until smooth. During last 15 minutes of cooking time, stir sauce and pea pods into chicken mixture. Serve over rice. Sprinkle with additional almonds.

EASY ALMOND CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Season with garlic powder to taste and bake in the preheated oven for 1/2 hour.
• In a small bowl mix together the soup and milk. Pour mixture over chicken and bake for another 1/2 hour. Meanwhile, toast almonds and add to chicken during the last few minutes of baking.

CHINESE ALMOND CHICKEN

Steps:

• Mix the soy sauce, salt, cornstarch, and sherry in a large bowl. Stir in chicken; cover and refrigerate.
• Heat 1 1/2 cups of the peanut oil in a large, deep skillet. Fry almonds in the oil until golden, about 1 minute. Drain fried almonds on a paper towel.
• Drain all but 3 tablespoons of oil from the skillet. Stir in the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, celery, onion, and water chestnuts. Cook and stir vegetables for 1 minute. Remove from skillet.
• Heat 1/4 cup oil in the skillet. Cook and stir the marinated chicken in hot oil until no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in cooked vegetables, chicken stock, and reserved soy sauce mixture; simmer until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in fried almonds before serving.

ALMOND-CRUSTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, season bread crumbs with salt and pepper. Place eggs in a small bowl with 2 teaspoons water, and beat lightly. Dip chicken in egg, wiping away excess with your fingers, and dip in bread-crumb mixture. Dredge until lightly coated. Dip in egg again, and coat thoroughly with almonds.
• Heat butter and oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until nicely browned, about 3 minutes, and turn over. Cook 1 minute more; then transfer pan to oven, and bake until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.