Month: December 2015

December 8: Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

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I bought some starlight mints the other day, and I’ve been itching to use them. (You’ll see why in a minute.)

I pinned these a few days ago because they looked pretty. But the instructions, as I discovered, are written by pretentious cookie snobs who want to make sure you are doing everything exactly right. Dear Control Freaks: You can’t control everything.

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This is my butter/crisco/sugar mix. According the instructions, this is supposed to be pale and fluffy.  (“In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, on medium speed, whip together butter, shortening and sugar until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed.”) Um, it’s crisco and butter and sugar. Unless I’m sacrificing a goat in there, it’s going to be pale and fluffy no matter what. (Also? You spelled “scraping” wrong.)

I added the rest of my ingredients and then was met with this bossy instruction:

“Transfer dough to an airtight container and refrigerate 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375 during the last 10 minutes of refrigeration.”

Don’t tell me what to do.

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My mixer bowl and plastic wrap worked just fine, thank you.

When my chilling time was done, I scooped three balls into my hand with my 1T scoop because it calls for 3T. Math.

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And then…”Place dough ball on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle top lightly with flour, then using something flat and smooth (such as the storage container lid), press and evenly flatten dough to 1/2″ thick. Transfer flattened dough to a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and repeat process with remaining dough (you’ll have to use 2 cookie sheets).”

I have time and inclination for none of this.

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Worked just fine.

While my slummed-down cookies were baking, I mixed together the frosting.

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And I don’t care who you are: powdered sugar is going to get you.

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After all of this, my starlight mints were waiting.

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Hang on.

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That’s better.

Yes, I smash them to smithereens while in the wrappers and still in the bag. I find it controls the carnage better. And then you just unwrapped the wrappers and fill your bowl with mint bits.

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It’s such a good stress reliever.

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Cookies cooled and frosted, and decorated with the fruits of my labor.

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Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
(from http://www.cookingclassy.com)

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes

Yield: 15 bakery size cookies

Ingredients

    • 2 1/2 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting work surface
    • 2 tsp cornstarch
    • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 1/4 cup all vegetable shortening (unflavored), at room temperature
    • 1 cup granulated sugar
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 large egg white
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
    • Crushed candy canes, for topping
Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

  • Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, then whisk it just a few times, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, on medium speed, whip together butter, shortening and sugar until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in egg and mix until combine, then add egg white, vanilla and peppermint extract and mix until combine. With mixer running, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combine. Transfer dough to an airtight container and refrigerate 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375 during the last 10 minutes of refrigeration.
  • Scoop dough out about 3 Tbsp at a time and roll into a ball. Place dough ball on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle top lightly with flour, then using something flat and smooth (such as the storage container lid), press and evenly flatten dough to 1/2″ thick. Transfer flattened dough to a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and repeat process with remaining dough (you’ll have to use 2 cookie sheets). Bake in preheated oven 9 – 11 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Cool completely then frost with Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
  • For the frosting:
  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy. Add peppermint extract and powdered sugar and mix until pale and fluffy.

December 7: White Chocolate Dipped Ginger Cookies

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I finally broke down today and bought molasses.

I know I didn’t let you in on this personal journey of mine, but let me assure you, it was difficult. Molasses is one of those things that stays in my fridge for 11.5 months of the year; it’s a main ingredient in many gingerbread-esque cookies. But every year, I take my old bottle out, bang it on the counter and swear at it until it starts flowing, and then realize I don’t have enough for what I want to do and have to buy a new, non-refridgerated bottle anyway.

We didn’t bring any molasses with us from Wisconsin, so this little tradition of mine was skipped this year, and I knew it would be it. Honestly, it wasn’t the same buying the bottle of molasses without the epic battle beforehand.

So to turn this bittersweet moment into a celebration, I decided to make a recipe that called for molasses. Thanks for this one, Pinterest.

I started the recipe with butter, sugar, and brown sugar, and mixed it up in Ol’ Trusty.

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And the measuring of the molasses went smoothly. Thanks for asking; I know you were thinking of me. I hunted high and low for my liquid measuring cup because that’s about the only thing I was ever marked down for in Mrs. Nardini’s 7th grade cooking class. Lessons of a lifetime.

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In went the rest of the ingredients. I saran-wrapped it and put it in the fridge.

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An hour later, I took it out and formed my cookies. My cookie shaper is about 1 T, and these were to be about 1 1/2 T sized, so I made them with 1 1/2 scoops. I rolled them in sugar and pressed them with a glass. (After they were on the cookie sheet of course; it’s hard to do it in mid-air.)

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While they were baking, I mixed up my white chocolate dip. This recipe calls for 3 cups of white chocolate. Yeah. That was never going to happen. Whatever is in a bag of chocolate chips was the amount I used, with about a T of coconut oil. Microwaved the chocolate responsibly until it was melted.

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When the cookies came out of the oven (looking good, btw), I cooled them and then the real decisions were made.

I wasn’t going to mix up royal icing just to make a little holly berry on each cookie. I mean, the pictures on Pinterest are beautiful, but I’m still wrestling with that paper from yesterday (about halfway done) and needed to opt for sprinkles instead. The question was: which ones?

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I have a slight sprinkle problem. And colored sugar problem. And jimmie problem. Basically, if it can decorate the top of a cupcake, I’m into it and have the collection to prove it.

After three trial runs, there was a clear winner.

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Thank you, Bekah Kate’s in Baraboo, Wis. for stocking this stellar gold sprinkle last year, just for these cookies.

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White Chocolate Dipped Ginger Cookies

(from http://www.cookingclassy.com)

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp granulated sugar, divided
  • 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 cups white chocolate chips
  • 3 Tbsp shortening
  • sprinkles

Directions:

  • In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg for 20 seconds, set aside.
  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar until well blended. Mix in egg, then blend in molasses and vanilla. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees during last 10 minutes of chilling.
  • Scoop dough out about 1 1/2 Tbsp at a time, shape into balls then roll in remaining 3 Tbsp granulated sugar. Transfer to Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2 inches apart (keep dough chilled that is not currently baking), flatten tops just slightly (to evenly level). Bake in preheated oven 8 – 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • In a microwave safe bowl, melt 1 cup white chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp shortening at a time in microwave on HIGH power in 10 second intervals, stirring between intervals, until melted, smooth and fairly runny (I did batches of it because it will cool as your dipping, plus its easy to burn so you don’t want to work with too much of it at a time. Then once you’ve used it up melt more, you may not need all 3 cups). Dip half of each cookie in melted white chocolate mixture then run bottom of cookie slightly along edge of bowl to remove excess, then return to Silpat or parchment paper to set at room temperature.
  • Sprinkle sprinkles on top, after the long journey to decide which ones to use

 

December 6: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

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So, we’re at the end of the weekend now. Generally, by the end of the first weekend of December, I have at least one frosted cookie in the bunch.

But now I’m a grad student. I don’t have time to frost any cookies (nor make any cookies that take hours) until I finish my last assignment for the semester. It’s due Tuesday, and I wrote my first paragraph and thesis statement last night. I want to hammer out the rest today and be done with it.

Here’s my desk:IMG_4251

And during the downtime of baking, here’s my make-shift work space:

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Yes, that’s the table my cat’s eat on. I hope they like reading academic journals.

(Oh, the working title of my last paper is: “Constricting Ideals of Femininity Lead to Feminism in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind,” but I toyed with the idea of comparing Scarlett O’Hara to Regina George. My friend Andrew talked me out of this, saying he didn’t think Mean Girls was academic enough. He’s probably right. But, come on, wouldn’t that have been a rad paper?!)

(Aren’t you glad you asked?)

Also, I keep hearing this speech in my head as I bake and research:

I left a stick of butter out to soften and when it was ready, I combined it with my brown sugar and eggs. And then the piece de resistance:

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Combined the rest of my ingredients and rolled little balls of chocolate goodness into powdered sugar.

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Then I placed them on to a cookie sheet and into my oven.

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If T.S. Eliot measured out his life in coffee spoons, then I supposed I measure mine in minutes on the oven timer.

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(While I waited between batches, my yellow magic marker and I tackled the JSTOR reading.)

Chocolate crinkles completed, I am now back at my desk, determined to crank out several pages of brilliance.

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Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

(from http://www.somethingswanky.com)

INGREDIENTS:

 

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with paper or a silicone baking mat.

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until soft dough forms.

Scoop by rounded tablespoons and roll each ball in the powdered sugar, evenly coating each one.

Bake until cookies are set and the tops cracked, about 13 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.

December 5: Frosted Rum Mounds

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*Note: I forgot the official name of these and was about to write down “Rum Piles.”

In honor of the super awesome retro Christmas party I’m missing tonight (darn 1200 miles), I made a retro cookie from a retro book, given to me by my retro friend, Christina.

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So classy!

Let’s travel back in time to 1960, where smoking is still chic and healthy, the outfits are classy, and the world spelled cookie as “cooky.”

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It’s a pretty straight forward sugar cookie recipe. When it came time to flatten my balls (real mature, guys), I was out of my 1960 jelly jars, so I had to improvise.

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Turned out pretty well in the oven, so I got started on the frosting. I had to go to my favorite part of the pantry.

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You’re supposed to throw some nuts on top at the end, but I didn’t have any, so I used the flashiest, most carcinogen-laden sprinkles I could find. Because, if Mad Men taught me anything, it’s that the cancer doesn’t matter, as long as you look good. (I’m looking at you, Betty.)

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(Also good to note: eh, not my favorite. Like many things from 1960, tastes have changed.)

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December 4: Italian Sand Cookies

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Back by popular demand!

(That would be *my* popular demand.)

I found these last year, and they were one of my favorites. They reminded me of going to any number of bakeries over the years and the kinds of cookies that were nestled in the top rack.

(I do fancy myself a bakery connoisseur. Go ahead and judge.)

Once I mixed up the recipe in Ol’ Trusty (who’s motor may be sputtering out…I have to look into Kitchen Aid’s warranty), I filled my pastry bag with the dough.

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Now, if you’ve never filled a pastry bag, let me let you in inn a little secret: a tall glass is your friend.

I piped the dough on cookie sheets.

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They spread out more than I may have wanted. I was a little worried, until I tasted them. Oh yes. This is the stuff.

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I melted half a bag of chocolate chips with a tablespoon of coconut oil and dipped the cookie in it, then into a big container of sprinkles.

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And life was good.

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SAND COOKIES

(from www.cheftessbakeresse.com)

1 1/2 cups flour (we used AP)
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar *
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
2 eggs
*(we also liked 3/4 c. conf sugar & 1/4 c. granulated which made them a slight bit sweeter)

Creaming method. Put through bag with large star tip. Bake @ 375 F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown. Decorate with choc chips, sprinkles or leave plain and dip half in melted choc., etc.

December 3: Buttery Jam Thumbprint Cookies

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Still on my quest to not go to the grocery store, I found another recipe that requires no eggs.

Helpful hint: when a recipe says to use preserves, use preserves. After I mixed my dough, rolled it into balls, and pressed my finger into said balls, I took inventory of what I had to work with for filling.IMG_4196IMG_4197IMG_4198

It was red currant jelly, lemon curd, and strawberry preserves. I wanted to be “fancy” so I made some with the red currant jelly and a few with the lemon curd. I wanted to make sure the lemon curd would work and didn’t want to waste the cookies. Or the curd. Lemon curd is one of the things I’d bring with me on a dessert island

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It started looking good.

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And then, it looked like a murder scene.

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Turns out, the jelly wasn’t thick enough and ran all over the cookie sheet. But the lemon curd? Turned out amazingly.

The strawberry preserves held up well. So let that be a lesson to all of you: always preserve if it’s going into the oven.

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Buttery Jam Thumbprint Cookies

(from http://www.chewoutloud.com)

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 cup salted butter, softened
  • ½ cup confectioners’ (powdered) sugar, plus ¼ cup more for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp table salt
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ cup fruit preserves
DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, blend butter and sugar until fluffy and light, 2 minutes. Add vanilla and salt, scraping down bowl as needed. Switch to low and gently mix in flour, just until combined. Don’t over mix.
  3. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into 1-inch balls. Place dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets. Press down the center of each ball with a spoon (or your thumb!) making a slight depression.
  4. Fill cookie centers with a teaspoonful of preserves. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and puffy, but take care not to overbake. Let cool a few minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to finish cooling on wire rack.
  5. When cookies are completely cooled, dust with confectioners’ sugar. Cookies can be kept in airtight container at room temp for a few days.

December 2: Mint Meltaways

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Today’s cookie is brought to you by laziness. The mass quantities of eggs I bought last week have been depleted, and I wasn’t in the mood for going to the store. In order to accommodate this, I found a recipe that didn’t require eggs.

Enter Mint Meltaways.

I’ve made these for the past number of years, but generally with some strange colors. Like black or Muppet green. I decided to go simple this year and only dye the frosting. I ventured to my food coloring bag and saw that something wasn’t right.

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And then I looked closer around my kitchen.

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And then I remembered this morning when I went to cut my son’s nails that one hand of his was dyed red. I didn’t think much of it at the time (mostly because he’s 10 and…”creative”), but suddenly, everything made sense.

(Also, when I asked him about this when I picked him up, he explained that he was trying to “re-color and re-flavor” his chewing gum the day before. I told you he was creative.)

Anyway, back to the cookies.

I mixed them up in Ol’ Trusty and threw them on a cookie sheet.

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While they were baking, I mixed up my frosting. I went subtle red this year–which, by the way, is a nickname I’ve never been called.

(Think about this for a minute. It’s not funny if I have to explain it.)

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This year, I used a small star tip instead of the large, and I don’t know if it made much difference.

All of the Christmas-y goodness, without a trip the store…and an added bonus of a mystery discovered and solved!

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Peppermint Meltaways

(from tasteofhome.com)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • FROSTING:
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons 2% milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 2 to 3 drops red food coloring, optional
  • 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies

Directions

In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Shape into 1-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

In a small bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners’sugar, milk, extract and, if desired, food coloring; beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cookies; sprinkle with crushed candies.

Store in an airtight container.

December 1: Italian Pizzelles

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Bet ya thought I forgot about this little project. Lots has changed since last year–my family and I moved 1200 miles away from our little gingerbread house in the not-tropolis of Wisconsin to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Why would we do such a thing? I got into a grad school program down here, and now I bake cookies in the Bayou!

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It’s a cold front today–high of only 60. That little tree in the back is an orange tree. Don’t have that in Wisconsin!

 

Today is my last day of class for the semester, and also my busiest day. I’m at school from 9 am until 8:30 p.m. I didn’t know if I would be able to start my project today, but as I was in the shower this morning, the idea came to me: I have a pizzelle iron. It’s portable. And I have two hours of office hours first thing this morning.

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I had to mix the dough up at home first. My kitchen looked like an explosion before I started. It’s the end of the semester.

(Let’s try to forget for a minute that I’m pretty much the oldest person here and certainly the only mother. My office cookie-baking and apron-wearing certainly isn’t allowing me to fit in well today.)

I’m getting funny looks, but somehow, people are still eating the cookies. Starving grad students, you know.

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What? You don’t bring a pizzelle iron to your office?

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Thanks to my office-mate Brett for letting me use her desk for cookie-related purposes.

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My desk set-up, complete with professor-in-training wool cardigan on the chair.

Maybe later in the month, I’ll type out the recipe, but until my last paper is written, I’ll just rely on technology. This is from my Gooseberry Patch Country Cookie cookbook. My fave, and the first thing I bought with my first paycheck back in 1994.

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