February 2011 Daring Bakers' Challenge: Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

I have been curious about panna cotta for quite some time (since I started obsessing over tastespotting.com), but I've never really planned to make it.  Lucky for me, it was this month's challenge! 

 The texture of panna cotta was interesting, somewhere between jello and pudding.  It requires the use of gelatin, which I haven't used much before, so I had fun with that.

Mmmm cookies.

Vanilla Panna Cotta

(from Giada De Laurentiis)

• 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
• 1 tablespoon (one packet) (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
• 3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) honey
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) granulated sugar
• pinch of salt

Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigerator for a few minutes before you start making the Panna Cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage).

Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.

Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.

Strawberry Gelée 

(Recipe by Mallory)

• 1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) (8 oz) strawberries 
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) water
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) (60 gm) (2 oz) granulated sugar
• 1½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (3½ gm) (1/8 oz) unflavored powdered gelatin

Sprinkle gelatin over water.

Place fruit and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until sugar has dissolved. Now mix the gelatin into the strawberry mixture and stir until gelatin has dissolved.

Remove from heat and allow to cool (close to room temp, again, if you're planning on layering on pouring on top of your Panna Cotta, a hot mixture will also heat up your chilled Panna Cotta).

Nestle Florentine Cookies

(Recipe from the cookbook “Nestle Classic Recipes”, and their website)

• 2/3 cup (160 ml) (150 gm) (5.3 oz) unsalted butter
  2 cups (480 ml) (160 gm) (5 2/3 oz) quick oats
  1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) (8 oz) granulated sugar
  2/3 cup (160 ml) (95 gm) (3⅓ oz) plain (all purpose) flour
  1/4 cup (60 ml) dark corn syrup
  1/4 cup (60 ml) whole milk
  1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
  pinch of salt
  1½ cups (360 ml) (250 gm) (9 oz) dark or milk chocolate

Preheat oven to moderately hot 375°F (190°C) (gas mark 5). Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper. 

Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.

To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches (75 mm) apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula. 

Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.

While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (in a double boiler, or a bowl that fits atop a saucepan filled with a bit of water, being sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl).

Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire rack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper (to keep counters clean). 

 

Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end) cookie atop the chocolate.

This recipe will make about 2 1/2 - 3 dozen sandwiched Florentine cookies. You can also choose not to sandwich yours, in which case, drizzle the tops with chocolate (over your wax paper).

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

Hubby's favorite cookies are white chocolate chip macadamia nut ones.  He adores them.  Any time he came home for a visit while in the Marine Corps, we'd get a couple packs of those Pepperidge Farm tahoes.  So when Christmas cookie time rolled around and I asked him if he'd like me to make any special cookies, I wasn't the least surprised at his request.   I did a quick search to see if I could find a copycat recipe for the PF Tahoes, but I didn't find one.   Instead, I came across this one, which was a winner.  

Unfortunately, during my Christmas cookie weekend, I didn't snap any photos.  No big loss, as these cookies aren't much to look at it.  But what they lack in looks, they make up for in taste.

White Chocolate  Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate   

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies

My dad has been working a lot lately, and my sister and I, finally deciding it had been absolutely too long since we had seen him, told him he had the choice of either taking us to Cracker Barrel or barbecuing for us this weekend.  Lucky for us, Dad offered to BBQ (his is the best!).  We decided on a day and time kind of late, so I decided I'd just make cookies for dessert.  Rummaging through my tub of chocolate chips, etc, I came across an unopened bag of Reese's peanut butter chips.  Score!!  I flipped the bag over and saw a recipe for chewy, chocolately cookies and thought "double score!" as I'd been thinking of making chocolate cookies.  Everyone loved the cookies, especially hubby.

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies
(from the back of the Reese's Peanut Butter Chips bag)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 10-oz bag peanut butter chips 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined.   Gradually mix in flour until well combined.

Drop rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet (I always lay  down parchment paper).  Bake 8-9 minutes.  Do not overbake!  Cool slightly, then remove to a cooling rack.

Milano Cookies

This past week, TasteSpotting.com has been flooded with Daring Bakers adventures with Milan cookies. You know the ones I'm talking about; those Pepperidge Farm cookies with the crisp buttery ovals sandwiched together with rich chocolate ganache? If you don't know the bliss of which I speak, you must follow my next instructions. Get up. Grab your keys. Head to the nearest market. Walk down the cookie aisle. Grab a package of Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies and purchase them. Once you're in the parking lot, open the package and let the sweet cookie take your tastebuds on a ride to Delicioustown. Try not to wreck your car while stuffing your face as you drive home...

Okay. Moving on. Milan(o) cookies are some of my absolute favorite cookies. The crisp, crumbly, yet airy texture of the cookie combined with the rich chocolate ganache is just divine. They're a cookie I rarely treat myself to (mostly due to the price), so imagine my absolute delight at the idea that I could make them myself! The ingredients are simple; generally, I have them all in the kitchen (minus the cream). Really, this recipe and I are a pairing made in heaven.


Milan Cookies
(Gale Gand of the Food Network)

Cookie Batter

• 12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (approximately 6 eggs)
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp lemon extract

Cookie Filling

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 orange, zested (I omitted this)

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Gradually mix in egg whites (I added approximately 2 egg whites at a time), then mix in the extracts. Add flour and mix just until fully incorporated.

Pipe the batter onto the prepared sheet using a 1/4 inch plain piping tip. (Don't have piping tips and bags? Just put the batter in a gallon ziplock back and snip the corner off one end). Pipe 1 inch long strips of batter, making sure they are 2 inches apart from each other and the edges of the pan. The batter WILL spread quite a deal.

Bake 10 minutes or (more importantly) the edges are a light golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.

While the cookies cool, scald the heavy cream; in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, heat the cream until it is steaming and the edges begin to bubble. Make sure to stir frequently; you do not want a skin developing atop the cream.

Place the chocolate in a glass bowl; pour the scalded cream over top. Stir constantly until all the chocolate has melted. Let it cool and thicken a bit.

While your chocolate is cooling, it's a good idea to go through your cookies and pair them up so you have similarly sized and shaped cookies.

Of each pair, spread a thin layer of chocolate across the flat side of a cookie. Gently press the flat side of the second cookie on top.

A Few Notes:
My cookies were not perfect replicas of the P.F. ones. For starters, my cookies are very soft and chewy. Perhaps (as I didn't use a piping tip) my batter was too thick and couldn't crisp up. I'm a bit skeptical of this theory though. I might fiddle with the recipe the next time I make these.
Also, hubby and I both agree that the lemon is too heavy; next time, I'd either cut the amount by half or even just omit it completely.
Thirdly, it is hella hard to make nicely shaped ovals. So don't get discouraged. I had to sift through mine to get nice ones to photograph.
Even though these aren't exactly like the P.F. ones I love, they're still pretty tasty. You should try them out; people will be impressed by their delicate nature.

Cookie Cake

Well now. Sorry for the absence; last week, my sister's baby had to return to the hospital (quite suddenly) for his second heart surgery. So I've spent the last week and a half going back and forth between home and New Orleans, where he's hospitalized. He is doing amazingly well and should be home soon. I can't wait!!

My latest trip to New Orleans was to celebrate my sister's birthday. She really wanted a cookie cake (she had been scheduled to get one at work before we knew about the surgery) so a cookie cake she would have!! First, I thought I would use my white and milk chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I was worried about it baking correctly. I googled cookie cake recipes and came across this one from Emeril. What better recipe to use while my sister is holed in up New Orleans? In fact, the hospital isn't very far from one of his restaurants. Anyhoo. The recipe called for bittersweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, walnuts, and macadamia nuts. I generally try to avoid baking with nuts, since so many people have allergies or just don't like them. Now, my sister LOVES these new Hershey nuggets that are milk chocolate with toffee and almonds. When I say she loves them, I mean it. And they deserve the love. They are amazingly delicious. Sadly they are difficult to find. No worries though; Mama Sarah is dedicated to her baking! Once I found a bag (and then bought two), I chopped those up and used those instead of all the mix-ins Emeril used.


Since this cookie cake was for a birthday, it had to be decorated, right? Right. Unfortunately, I have horrible handwriting (which I *unfairly* blame completely on being a lefty) so I just used icing tips to decorate the edge and then create a heart in the center. Not too bad for a first time.


Everyone LOVED the cake. It was a great recipe, but the chocolate with bits of toffee seemed to make it. Everyone ate twice as much as they initially planned. Which, after gorging ourselves at the casino lunch buffet, means a lot. You should definitely make this recipe; cake form or cookie form doesn't matter.

Cookie Cake

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 package Hershey's Creamy Milk Chocolate with Toffee and Almonds Nuggets, chopped into chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking stone or pizza pan with parchment paper, then grease the paper. Alternatively, you can use a disposable tin pizza pan (that's what I did).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs one at time, beating thoroughly after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Mix in the vanilla. Stir or fold in the chocolate pieces.

Spoon on to/ into prepared surface/pan. Evenly distribute the batter and smooth the surface. Don't forget the cookie dough will rise; mine filled up a 13 inch pizza pan and hung a tiny bit over the side.

Bake approximately 20-25 minutes, until the edges are golden and the cookie is set, but soft. Let cool ten minutes before removing from the pan and placing on a cooling rack. If using a disposable pan, you can leave it in the pan and just place it on the rack.

Cool completely before decorating.

Icing

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• food coloring, optional

Using a mixer (if you don't have a mixer, buy icing. It isn't worth stirring by hand), cream together the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Slowly add milk and vanilla extract. Beat until stiff. Mix in food coloring.

Sugar Cookies

Mmm sugar cookies. Who doesn't love them? Really, they're sweet, soft, crisp rounds from the heavens. Today, neither my sister nor I had anything to do, so I thought we could do nothing together. She mentioned having a sweet tooth, and I, of course, decided I had to make her something. Thus the sugar cookies. I had to sift through some recipes to find one that didn't require cream of tartar, which my sister didn't happen to have; luckily, I came across this one. The recipe is quite simple (as sugar cookies should be) with a delicious result.

Sugar Cookies

• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
  
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• additional sugar for rolling
  

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes). Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Add dry ingredients slowly, mixing well until thoroughly incorporated.

Sprinkle a small layer of sugar in the bottom of a plate. Roll approximately one tablespoon of dough into a ball, then pat onto the sugared plate. Flip, then pat more until the dough is about 1/3 inch thick and round. Place on baking sheet.

Bake approximately 10 minutes or until edges start to get golden.

Enjoy warm.

Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

I spent my first year in college living on burritos and salads; the cafeteria is awful. Horrible. Gross. I feel sorry for students who live on campus all four years. The cafeteria screwed up most foods... except cookies. Their cookies were decent. One particular type was actually delicious. They had cranberry and white chocolate chips and were amazing. Recently, hubby and I went to a lecture on campus where they were serving refreshments, including those cookies. Hubby was quite the fan as well. So I decided I'd try to make them myself.

I scanned a few cookie recipes and found they're all very similar for what I want. I just sort of winged it from there..


Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

• 3/4 cup flour, room temp
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup dried, sweetened cranberries
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix into wet mixture.

Stir in cranberries and chips. Drop rounded tablespoons on cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes, until edges start to brown (slightly).

Cardamom Cookies

I recently had a conversation with a friend about my love for the word "cardamom". It's a great word, enormously fun to say. Perhaps that's not the best reason to try out a recipe. It wasn't the only one though. Cardamom features into a few of my favorite things (namely, chai) and I'd like to work more with it. These cookies were a great start. The recipe comes from Dinner with Kirsten.


Cardamom Butter Cookies

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 oz fine-quality bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, melted (for drizzling)

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom, cinnamon and allspice in a bowl.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 to 4 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then mix in flour mixture until just combined.

Form dough into 2 (12-inch) logs (1 1/2 inches in diameter), each on its own sheet of plastic wrap. Use plastic wrap and your hands to roll, press, and square off sides of logs. The dough will be very soft at this point, so let the logs chill on a baking sheet until they’re somewhat firm, about one hour. Then smooth out the edges of the logs through the plastic wrap and try to flatten the sides. Once shaped, continue to chill the logs on the baking sheet until firm, about 1 more hour.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.

Cut enough scant 1/4-inch-thick slices from a log with a knife to fill 2 large ungreased baking sheets, arranging slices about 1 inch apart (chill remaining dough, wrapped in plastic wrap).

Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes total. Cool on sheets 3 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough on cooled baking sheets.

Once cookies are cooled, melt chocolate over a pan of simmering water in the stove or in the microwave (carefully!!). Spoon the chocolate into a plastic bag and snip off one of the tips. Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies and let set up for a few hours before stacking them.

Dough logs can be chilled 5 days or frozen, wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap, 1 month (thaw in refrigerator just until they can be sliced). · Cookies (with or without icing) keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.

Cranberry-Orange Pinwheels

This is another cookie I've made two years in a row. I love the combination of the cranberry, orange, and pecan that goes into this gorgeous swirls. They also stay firm, yet soft, which is great because I hate cookies that harden.


Cranberry-Orange Pinwheels
(Better Homes and Gardens, pg 256)
1 cup cranberries
1 cup pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp finely shredded orange peel
3 1/4 cup flour

For filling, in a food processor combine cranberries, pecans, and brown sugar. Cover and process until cranberries and pecans are finely chopped. Set filling aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with a mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Add eggs and orange peel; beat until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in the remaining flour. Divide dough in half; cover and chill about 1 hour or until easy to handle.

Between waxed paper, roll half of the dough into a 10 inch square. Spread half of the filling over dough to within ½ inch of edges; roll up dough. Moisten edges; pinch to seal. Wrap in plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Chill for 4 to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut rolls into ¼ inch slices. Place slices 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are light brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack and let cook.

Fudge Drops

Oh. My. Goodness. These cookies are uh-maze-zing! AMAZING! And of course, this recipe made the fewest batches. Sadness for me. But oh so good in my tummy. They were tasty tasty like brownie heaven.

This recipe comes from the King Arthur flour site, so sshhh don't tell them I didn't use their flour. It just wasn't what I had around the house. I made the recipe plain - no chocolate chips or chunks or ganache - and they were amazing, but any of those additions would work well.


Fudge Drops
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
3 tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp espresso powder (I omitted this)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (6 oz) chocolate chips, optional (I opted out)

In a double boiler, or in the microwave, gently melt together the chocolate and butter. To avoid heating the chocolate too much and possibly burning it, the best method is to heat till the butter is melted and the chocolate has partially melted, then remove from the heat. Stir till all the chocolate melts.

In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar and eggs till they're thoroughly combined. Add the hot melted chocolate, then stir in the remaining ingredients, including the chocolate chips, if you're using them. Refrigerate the batter-like dough for 1 hour, to make it easier to handle.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets, three if you have them.

Drop the cookie dough by tablespoonfuls (about the size of a small ping pong ball) onto the prepared baking sheets. A tablespoon cookie scoop makes this task extremely simple. Leave about 2" between the dough balls, as they'll spread as they bake.

Bake the cookies for 11 to 12 minutes, until their tops are shiny and cracked. They won't crack until the very end, so keep a close eye on them; when they're cracked all the way across the top surface, they're just about done. The point is, you want these baked all the way through, but just barely; additional baking will make them crisp rather than chewy. Remove the cookies from the oven, and top each with a kiss-shaped chocolate, a nonpareil, or a bittersweet chocolate wafer, if desired. Wait 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool.

Molasses Spice Cookies

So, there was a slight lull in the Christmas insanity updates, but that's partially because I got a new laptop!! I got an adorable little EeePC. It's a 10 incher, which makes it uberportable (what I want).

Ok, to continue to the cookies. This is the second year I've made these cookies; last year, they were my favorite. They're spicy and molassesy all at once, with a glorious sugarcrust. Yum yum.


Molasses-Spice Cookies
(Cooks' Illustrated Best Recipe Cookbook)

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, package
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup sugar for rolling cookies
• 1 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsulphured molasses

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and spices together. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Beat in egg, vanilla extract, and molasses until well combined. Mix in dry ingredients until combined.

Roll dough into balls, 2 tbsp each. Next, roll the dough balls in the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and place on prepped baking sheet about 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.

Bake 11-13 minutes or until the outer edges begin to set and the centers are soft and puffy. Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to cooking rack.

Raspberry Split-Seconds

Last year, I made raspberry thumbprints, which hubby really enjoyed. I'll admit, the recipe I used called for a pack of sugar cookie mix. And while you added more than the required ingredients to it, I felt like a cheater. A big, fat cookie cheater. So this year I decided to find a good replacement. these caught my eye because they are a similar concept, but a much more fun shape.

After I wrapped up all the gift cookies, hubby snuck the bag of these leftovers. I found the bag with 1 sad cookie left for me. :(


Raspberry Split-Second Cookies
(The Taste of Home Cookbook, pg 560)

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 3gg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually mix in flour mixture until well combined.

Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Shape each into a 12 inch long log. Place 2 each on a baking sheet, leaving 4 inches between them.

Make a 1/2 inch deep indentation down the center of the logs. (Mine weren't deep enough.) Fill the indentation with jam. The best way to do this is the put the jam into a bowl and stir it really well so it's a smooth consistency, then spoon it into a ziplock baggie. Cut the tip off the baggie and pipe the jam into the indentation. Easy and clean! Great task for children and husbands.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Let cool. The recipe calls for 2 minutes, but I let it sit longer, giving more time for the jam to cool so it didn't stick on everything. Cut diagonally into 3/4 inch slices.

Remove to wire rack and cool completely.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I've been searching for a great oatmeal raisin cookie recipe... lazy, waiting-for-them-to-come-to-me searching. What I want seems to not be the typical oatmeal cookie. I want a fluffy cookie. While I find great recipes, they are never fluffy. I guess I'll have just have to bite the bullet and start experimenting.

Anyhoo. Some of the guys at work said oatmeal cookies were their favorite, so I decided to include them in the Christmas cookie collective. I have a few recipes I've pulled off TasteSpotting, and decided to try this recipe since I've already tried, and ruled out, the Quaker Oats lid recipe. I found them enjoyable, as did hubby.



Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup butter
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups raisin
• powdered sugar for rolling
  

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients, oats, and raisins.

Chill dough. To save my sanity, I made a few of my doughs the day before; this was one of them. So you can chill it for a few hours or a couple days. Whatever works best for you and your schedule.

Once your dough has chilled and you're ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll dough into walnut-sized balls. Now, I'm not all that familiar with walnuts, so mine were probably 1 1/2 inches. They were a bit too large as the cookies will flatten and expand quite a bit. I ended up with square cookies because they all ended up smooshing into each other!

Now, roll each dough ball in the powdered sugar. To remove excess sugar, I sort of tossed the ball back and forth between my hands a few times. Worked like a charm. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheet.

Butter the bottom of a drinking glass. Press it into the powdered sugar, then press down on each cookie until it's about 1/4 inch thick.

Bake 8-10 minutes.

Eggnog Thumbprints and other musings

Hello my lovelies! I return from a hellish semester filled with reading and a 24 page paper on the racial divide in the misogyny of author Richard Wright's fiction. Wooooo! Time for some Christmas cooking!!! I know I promised Thanksgiving recipes, and I'll get around to updating those too.

Today, hubby and I decorated our (too large) Christmas tree, which is always a somewhat special time as he proposed to me as we finished decorating my family's tree. And the decorating of the tree really made me want to bake some Christmasy goodies.


First came the fudge. Two batches. And I failed at both. I first tried an Alton Brown recipe, paying strict attention to the temperature on the candy thermometer. It was a disaster. Then I decided to go with Nigella's recipe, adding chocolate. Again, disaster, but on a smaller scale. Since I've tried multiple recipes, it must be me. What am I doing wrong?? I had an aunt who made the BEST fudge ever, but I was too young to learn her ways (also, she lived multiple hours away). Now, she's no longer with the family so my one fudge link is gone! I do have another aunt who has suggested another recipe, which I will try tomorrow. I will persevere until I have some creamy, chocolatey fudge awesomeness. It's my mission.

So the fudge failed. Being a trooper, I moved on. I'd come across this recipe for rum-eggnog thumbprints. I thought I'd audition them for a spot in my Christmas cookie line-up as them seem like such a festive embodiment of Christmas cheer.

Eggnog Thumbprints

Cookie

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together buter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add to butter/sugar mixture.

Drop 1 inch balls of cookie dough onto baking sheet. Make deep depression in the middle of each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Cool completely. While the cookies are cooling, prepare frosting.

Frosting

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp rum
• nutmeg, to garnish

In a small bowl, mix together the butter, powdered sugar, and rum. Make sure to eliminate any lumps the powdered sugar might form.

Spoon mixture into a ziplock baggie and cut the edge off one tip. Squeeze the icing into the depressions in each cookies.

Sprinkle with nutmeg.


Alright. So, I was a bit disappointed with these, though the idea is awesome. I felt something of the eggnog taste was missing; I'm thinking of trying to make a more involved icing, involving cream and eggyolk. Hubby enjoyed the cookies. I suppose I'm just looking for things to knock my socks off.

*ed. note .. A day later, these cookies seem to have a bit more eggnogy flavor, and unlike many sugar cookies, have not hardened. Points for this!

Apple Pie Cookies

I first made these cookies awhile ago for some kids I help out at school. They are super delicious, and I absolutely love the itty-bitty chunks of apple in them. I mix in cinnamon chips as well, and they're just super moist and soft and amazing and soft and delicious. I heart them. These are probably in my top 5 favorite cookies.

Apple Pie Cookies
(originally Apple Jacks by BakingBlonde)

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup apple, diced
  
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup Hershey's cinnamon chips
  

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat the butter. Beat in the brown sugar, vanilla, and egg until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add to the butter mixture. Combine well.

Stir in the apple and cinnamon chips.

Using a cookie scoop (these things are amazing), drop onto the baking sheet. Make sure these are well spaced, because the cookies will expand a bit.

Bake 9-12 minutes until the cookies are a light/golden brown and the edges are set. Let cool a bit before removing them to a wrack.

IF you have leftovers (which I've yet to experience) BakingBlonde advises against covering them tightly. Instead, loosing wrap them and keep them in the fridge. Otherwise, all the moisture from the apples will make them soften too much.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

It has been quite the day in Mama Sarah's kitchen. Had my first rum and coke last night, and needless to say, I slept later than normal today. Spent an hour or two feeling funky, then the cooking commenced! I'm going to do everything in separate posts, as I've decided I really like to have only one recipe per post, but I'll give you a quick run down of everything I made. First, for work, we have pumpkin spice cookies and cinnamon cheesecake blondies. For dinner, I baked smashed potatoes and honey dijon chicken tenders. And for the hubby, I made a cheesecake and a simple strawberry sauce to go with it. Hopefully, I'll get all the posts up tonight..

First up, the cookies:


This recipe comes from Joy the Baker. Like Joy, I harbored a can of pumpkin deliciousness in my pantry. I'm not ashamed; it gave me the opportunity to make these amazing cookies which will replace pumpkin pie at my Thanksgiving dinners. Seriously. They are fluffy, yet slightly dense with a perfect level of spice. Mmmmmm. I'd eat another one now if they weren't meant for work (and if I hadn't eaten so many goodies already today).

This morning.. er.. afternoon when I made my way to the store, I planned on following the recipe exactly, using chocolate chips.. Then I started thinking that maybe dried cranberries would go well. THEN after baking the blondies (I'm not sure why I didn't post in the order that I baked) I discovered Hershey's cinnamon chips. Nom nom deliciousness. My favorite chip. I hit this horrible (yet wonderful) point where I could NOT decide which of the three to put in. So, I mixed up the batter and dropped 6 cookies onto a cookie sheet. I made two of each, pressing the cranberries/chocolate chips/cinnamon chips into the cookie dough, then kind of mixing it around gently. After they baked, hubby and I sampled them and both decided the cinnamon chips were the boss of this match. The cranberries didn't add the right flavor, and the chocolate chips were too overwhelming, in my opinion.

These are delicious.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cinnamon chips

Preheat oven to 325F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until they are smooth and a light yellow color - about 1 minute.
Mix in the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla. Add the flour; mix until incorporated.
Stir in chips.
Using a cookie scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup or whatever else floats your boat, drop the cookie dough onto the cookie sheets. Slightly flatten them.
Bake for about 16 minutes, or until springy to the touch and an inserted toothpick comes out clean (unless you hit a chip.)

The cookies have an amazingly fluffy texture, which I love. I hate crunchy cookies. I love these.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Due to the flooding in town, my work is currently operating out of a college in town. We are no longer within walking distance of places for lunch, so the company has been trying to provide at least some sort of food (usually chips). I decided I'd help out a bit and bring in some food. I made another loaf of the Honey Vanilla Challah and these delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies from Karen at Do Better. In my experience, people usually appreciate free food, especially homemade baked goods, but the response to these cookies was amazing. So many people stopped me to tell me how delicious they are (even the head networking guy!). Hubby's friend said they were the best cookies she's ever had. Cool deal right?


The recipe makes A LOT of cookies, somewhere around 6 dozen. My little hand mixer had quite a difficult time in the final mixing stage, so I had to switch to good ol' hand powered stirring.

Chocolate Chip Cookies:
4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
6 cups flour (the original recipe is half white and half wheat, but I only have all purpose)
1 bag chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate, original recipe calls for semi-sweet)
1 bag white chocolate chips (I used vanilla chips)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream the butter and sugars together. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together salt, baking soda, and flour. Gradually mix into wet ingredients. Stir in chips.
Using cookie scoop (or whatever method you prefer) drop onto cookie sheets. Bake for approximately 11 minutes, until just slightly golden.

These cookies remain nice and soft instead of hardening up like some cookies. That's an important cookie feature for me.

Oh, and by the way, these cookies have hubby's seal of approval. He's not big into baked goods, so if he really likes something, it must be good, right?

Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies

So funny thing.. the more I bake, the longer it takes for me to update things because I have so many to do! Silly me. I'll try to do better (I say that a lot, don't I)


So hubby loves cheesecake. I make him one for his birthday every year. When I came across the Hungry Housewife's recipe for Strawberry Cheesecake cookies, I figured that could be a nice treat for hubby. When this past Saturday rolled around, I found myself baking to repay a favor, I decided I'd bake these up for hubby too. He enjoyed them, and wouldn't let me share them with others. That, my friends, is a testament to good baked goods.


Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies:
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup flour
1/4 cup(ish) strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 350F and prep a cookie sheet.
In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Gradually beat in the sugar until it's light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and salt.
In a small bowl, whisk together baking powder and flour. Mix into cream cheese mixture.
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet.
Place jam into a bowl and stir it well so it isn't lumpy or too gelatinous. Dab a bit on jam onto each cookie, then swirl the jam and top bit of cookie dough together.
Bake for 10-14 minutes or until edges are just golden.

The cookies are soft and slightly sticky. After the first batch, hubby requested a little less jam. It's totally a matter of personal taste. Seriously though, he didn't let me bring them to work to share.

Foodsplosion

For various reasons, I did not cook at all this past week.. business, illness... but I always feel guilty if I go too long without cooking. It's just silly not to. Also, I'm doing a behavior modification project which just happens to focus on my dishwashing habits..and if I don't cook, I can't really modify behavior that I'm not doing, can I? Anyhoo....

My friend Leigh mentioned Wednesday that she was craving chocolate chip cookies. Thursday night, I was watching Ultimate Recipe Showdown cookie challenge. Though I had missed the actual chocolate chip cookie portion, I got online and decided to check out the winning recipe. Friday, Leigh still hadn't had cookies, so I decided to make her some. Woo crazy me.


So.. Radical Rob's Chocolate Chip Cookies. Not so radical... not in taste. The cookies are super-thin though.. And sugar-crispy. I prefer my cookies fluffy, so I probably wouldn't make these again. They weren't anything special. Not bad. Not special. Average cookie. I don't really see why it won the challenge. I guess it's texture.. Oh well.. Perhaps you'll like it.


Much earlier this week, I decided I was going to make this pork and fennel dish from my Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook. I've made it before; so far, it's the only way we've liked fennel. I also really enjoy the pork being so thin; plus pounding it is fun.


Pork with Fennel:
12 oz pork tenderloin (I usually use pork chops)
1/4 cup flour
Salt and Pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 oz pancetta (or bacon) finely chopped
2 fennel bulbs, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 small onion. thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup whipping cream (I was out and used whole milk tonight)

Trim fat from meat, then cut into 1 inch squares. Place each slice between two sheets of plastic wrap, then pound with a meat mallet into 1/4 inch thickness.
In a bowl or plate, combine flour, salt, and pepper. Coat meat with mixture. Heat olive oil in a skillet, cook pork until meat is slightly pink in the center (2-3 minutes).
In the same skillet, cook pancetta (or bacon, like me) until crisp. Add fennel, onion, and garlic. Cook until crisp-tender (about 3-5 minutes). Add lemon juice. Stir in whipping cream. Bring to a boil, return meat to pan. Cook until meat is heated through and sauce is slightly thickened.
Best served with rice.

I'm in the process of baking the apple bread. I'll post it soon. I am just too tired right now.