Wedding Shower Cookies
I’m going to a bridal shower on Sunday for my beautiful niece, Nicole. I baked these as a surprise and I have to say that I had a really good time creating them. It took three batches of sweetsugarbelle’s sugar cookies to make 50 large cookies and, instead of making the royal icing from scratch, I used 4 lbs. of CK royal icing. I’m sure that veteran sugar-cookie bakers could have frosted these in a jiffy but it took me every bit 12 hours to complete them, and comments such as “you’re STILL making those cookies???” did not help :)
I’m not sure if you can see it, but I brushed some rainbow disco dust onto the ruffle after the icing had dried, which added just the right amount of dazzle and sparkle!! (I love disco dust so much that I wanted to brush it over the entire cookie. After all, the only thing better than “some” sparkle is “more” sparkle. How-Ever, I resisted temptation…this time…and left well-enough alone.)
Each cookie is wrapped in a cellophane bag and tied with a sweet little shiny ribbon.
I can’t wait for Nicole to see the cookies, and I look forward to celebrating the upcoming wedding of two very special people.
“A”
Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies
I like peanut butter cookies, but I hardly ever add them to a cookie tray as the aroma (like mint) tends to attach itself to all the other cookies and, before you know it, you have a peanut butter extravaganza.
So, for me, these cookies are a stand-alone favorite, and Betty Crocker seems to do it best. These cookies have a mildly crunchy texture and wonderful peanutty flavor. I was tempted to make a few changes, like chunky peanut butter, mini-chocolate chips, or those highly-addictive peanut butter m&m’s, but simple old-fashioned goodness won out. I followed the recipe exactly, but instead of dipping my fork into sugar before I made the criss-cross pattern, I rolled the whole cookie in granulated sugar and then made the pattern.
Cold milk + two (or more) of these cookies = happy day.
Here’s to another happy day.
“A”
Almond Joy Cookies
I love Love LOVE Almond Joy candy bars. So much so that I buy bags of them every Halloween knowing full well that it’s not a favorite amongst trick-or-treaters and knowing full well that there’ll be a ton left over for me. As candy goes, I can’t think of a more perfect combination…creamy coconut, sweet milk chocolate and whole crunchy roasted almonds. There’s nothing better, really, except this cookie.
Wow. They are packed with coco-nutty flavor and the magical power to turn a gloomy day bright.
I’ve had this recipe for years, and I’ve seen it on the web, but here’s my take:
ALMOND JOY COOKIES
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup Crisco shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 cup chopped roasted almonds
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Place 1 cup whole almonds on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Cut each almond in half:
Combine dry ingredients; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, shortening and sugars. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and stir in extracts. Stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed, then stir in chocolate chips, coconut and almonds. (Note: you may have to blend it together with your hands, because the mixture tends to be crumbly).
Form into large rounded balls using a 1 1/2″ diameter cookie scoop. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten tops slightly:
Bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack. Yield: 38 large cookies.
Give these cookies a go… they’ll make every minute you spend on the treadmill well worth the effort!
“A:
Annual Christmas Cookie Baking Marathon – 2011
The pictures and the story may be a wee bit late, but the cookies were right on time and enjoyed by many.
Our marathon was different this year, as little a and I bid a sad farewell to our treasured baking buddy who moved to a warmer climate. We were fully prepared to carry on as a dynamic duo, but little a came up with the brilliant suggestion to invite her best friend, Khalil Hymore, to join in the cookie chaos.
Besides being extremely talented and kind, Khalil is an associate food editor at Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine, where he helps create scrumptious seasonal recipes. (Sorry, Martha, but today he’s ours!!)
So, which cookie will Khalil contribute? Will he choose one of my tried-and-true favorites, or perhaps one that has been handed down in his family? No. He reaches for this book, instead.
(Surprise, surprise.)
BUT…..see that beauty on the front cover? (I mean the cookie) That’s the one he made! It’s called Chewy Chocolate-Gingerbread and it is really, really good. I admit to being a bit skeptical, as chocolate and gingerbread just didn’t seem a likely combo. (what do I know.) These cookies are deliciously tender and spicy, and they looked just as good!
Khalil was thrilled to bake some traditional cookies and he had lots of creative fun:
And so did his family!!
Scott had fun teaching Norah some cookie-baking basics with homemade gingerbread play-doh, and she was loving every minute:
Here are the recipes:
1. Better Homes and Gardens Spritz
3. Hazelnut Raspberry Almond Thumbprints
7. Susan Branch’s Lemon Squares – this was the first time I added a lemon square to the tray, and it was tasty. I couldn’t stop eating these!
10. Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
14. White Chocolate, Cranberry, Pistachio Biscotti – this was Martha Stewart’s Pecan Mandelbrot recipe. We eliminated the chopped pecans and threw in a 1/4 cup Craisins, 1/4 cup shelled pistachios and 1/2 cup Nestle’s white chocolate morsels. I especially like this recipe because the biscotti has a soft and tender crumb.
So, this year, a new tradition was born. Thank you, Khalil, for bringing smiles where there might have been tears and for sharing your time, talent and beautiful family with us. We hope you’ll all come back next year! (not that you have a choice ;-)
“A”
Christmas Cutout Cookies – Ornaments & Trees
Little a and I enjoyed our marathon holiday baking weekend, and there’s so much to share. Instead of snowflakes this year, we chose to decorate ornaments and trees:
The basic sugar cookie and royal icing recipes came from Sweet Sugarbelle. I just love her blog and her cookies inspire me to keep trying, although I am completely aware that my cookies will never look as incredible as hers. And, that’s okay with me. I’m totally happy just baking and decorating, whatever the results.
That said, I really do love this year’s cutouts!! Little a and I had way too much fun (and spent way too much time) transforming simple cookies into our own little works of art. The table was bursting with royal icing, sparkling sugar, sprinkles, doo-dads and, of course, my (ahem) personal favorite…DISCO DUST.
We made lots of other cookies that I will share soon, and…we had a very special guest baker this year! I won’t keep you in suspense long. Promise.
“A”
Vanilla Drop Sugar Cookies
Crispy on the outside…..soft, vanilla wonderful on the inside. These are goooood!!
Vanilla Drop Sugar Cookies
3 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. salt
Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Add, one third at a time, to butter mixture, mixing until blended after each addition. Refrigerate dough until chilled, or overnight.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into coarse sugar and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. (I used a 1″ cookie scoop)
Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes, or until cookies appear set and very lightly golden on bottom. Transfer to cooling rack.
Betcha can’t eat just one!
“A”
Hazelnut Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
My holiday baking is underway, and raspberry thumbprint cookies are an all-time favorite…and they’re pretty too!
For these cookies, I combined two of my favorite recipes: Pillsbury’s Hazelnut Melting Moments and Land o’ Lakes’ Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprints. With toasted and chopped hazelnuts, the Pillsbury recipe* makes a tender and delicious base, and I used the glaze recipe from the Land o’ Lakes cookie.
For the filling, I opted to try something different. Most recipes call for seedless raspberry jam, which is rich and tasty. However, I always seem to have a bubbly mess when I use it, no matter how careful I am. So this time, I used a raspberry cake and pastry filling that I bought at Ladybug Cake and Candy. What a difference! The filling stayed right where I placed it, and it remained soft and delicious. Solo makes a raspberry filling that’s available at the grocery store, and I’ll bet it would work just fine.
Well, no presents wrapped yet (I haven’t even decorated the tree), but for me, it’s all about the cookies.
Happy holiday baking!
“A”
*the recipe calls for lemon peel. I didn’t use it.
Wedding Cake Cookies
Ohhhhh………….I had way too much fun making these cookies. I have become somewhat totally obsessed with creating and perfecting cut-out sugar cookies. My cookie cutter collection is growing and I actually look forward to sitting at the kitchen table for hours, playing with my decorating tips and doo-dads, and making a humongous mess.
I made these cookies to adorn the “Party Perfect” cookie trays that will be presented on the tables at a wedding celebration this weekend. Thank you, again, Sweet Sugarbelle, for your royal icing tutorial. Here’s my version of the “No Fail Sugar Cookies”:
3 cups flour
1/2 – 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until well combined.
Sift together flour and baking powder, and add to mixture one cup at a time. Roll out dough to desired thickness (I like 1/4″) and cut with cookie cutter dipped in flour before each use.
Place cookies on parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until edges of cookies begin to brown lightly. Cool cookies slightly before removing to cooling rack.
Note: I do NOT refrigerate the dough before rolling, but I do roll it between two layers of parchment paper.
I present my collection of wedding cake cookies:
I was thrilled with the white-on-white, but I did apply some sparkly luster dust after they dried. (I can never resist the temptation to embellish just a weeee-bit more.) The cookies measure approx. 4″ x 4″, and we crowned each tray with just one wedding cake cookie at the top…pretty pretty.
Wishing happy days and a happy life to Josh and Jill!
“A”
Vanilla and Chocolate Pizzelles
According to Wikipedia, pizzelles “are traditional Italian waffle cookies made from flour, eggs, sugar, butter or vegetable oil, and flavoring (often vanilla, anise, or lemon zest)”. According to me, pizzelles are deliciously light and crispy cookies that are addictive and should only be eaten by the dozen.
In order to form the cookie, you’ll need a pizzelle iron, which operates similarly to a waffle iron. The pizzelle dough is dropped by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the hot iron and is pressed into shape when the lid closes tightly. The pizzelles are soft and pliable for a short time after they are cooked, and they crisp-up as they cool. Mine, however, remained soft and somewhat soggy. Maybe it was the rainy day…maybe I didn’t cook them long enough…maybe I’m just not the best little pizzelle-maker. Who knows, who cares, but, since I refuse to serve them soggy, I cranked the oven to 350 degrees, spread the pizzelles (single layer) on a cookie sheet, and let them bake for approx. 5 minutes. The result? Crispy crunchy pizzelles!
Here are the recipes for Pizzelles made with Butter, and Chocolate Pizzelles (I added one teaspoon of anise extract to this recipe). Also, try as I might, I could not measure exactly the right amount of dough to make perfectly formed pizzelles. Mine had a border that extended well beyond the pretty snowflake print. So…I cheated. After I lifted the cookies off the iron, while they were still warm and pliable, I trimmed off the excess with my kitchen shears.
And now, after all that, I present you with pretty, crispy, tasty pizzelles. My way ;-)
“A”
“Party Perfect” Cookie Tray II
Every cookie was delicious!!! (Or, so they say). I know that the few cookies I sampled were really, really good but, with butter, sugar, chocolate, almond paste and raspberry jam, how could you lose? This was a collaborative effort…Holly, Bethy and I spent a very productive day together baking for Jill’s (Holly’s beautiful future daughter-in-law’s) bridal shower.
Here are the recipes:
2. Pignoli Cookies – I use the almond paste that is sold by the pound.
3. Chocolate Macaroons – Instead of sliced almonds, we used finely chopped blanched almonds. (Just as good, if not better!)
6. Chocolate Espresso Balls: (in the photo, these have the white pearlized jimmies) I ate two and could have easily eaten a dozen. They were so very rich and scrumptious.
2 sticks softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. ground espresso beans (regular coffee works too)
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Approx. 1/2 cup white chocolate for frosting
Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and espresso. Mix until blended. Mix in flour, cocoa and chocolate chips. Roll dough into 1″ balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. (Cookies spread very little) Bake 15 – 20 minutes, until firm. When cookies are cooled, frost with melted white chocolate and sprinkle with jimmies.
8. Mexican Tea Cakes – tender, flavorful, melt-in-your-mouth!
9. Raspberry White Chocolate Bars – I used a jelly roll pan (10 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 1) to make these cookies. The recommended 13 x 9 x 2 yields a bar with a thicker cookie bottom; I like them a little thinner. This cookie was a HUGE hit!
10. No-Fail Sugar Cookie Hearts – this is a great, tasty recipe. My changes: I cut the recipe in half, eliminate the salt and use only about 3/4 tsp. of baking powder because I don’t like the cookies to be too puffy. I followed SweetSugarBelle’s recipe for Royal Icing and I totally loved it! It was easy to make (she has a great tutorial) and the yield was high. I chose to flavor it with pure almond extract, mmmmm.
11. Neapolitan Sugar Cookies – here’s the snafu: these cookies were from a recipe printed in the March-April 2011 issue of Southern Lady. I cannot locate the recipe anywhere online; nor can I locate a copy of the magazine. So, here’s what I can tell you. It’s basically an icebox/refrigerator cookie with one third of the dough mixed with melted semi-sweet chocolate, one third mixed with strawberry extract and a bit of red food coloring, and the last third of the dough is left plain. Each dough is then rolled into four thin ropes, and each of two cookie logs is formed by alternating two plain, two chocolate and two strawberry ropes. After the logs have been refrigerated, slice the cookies, top with coarse sugar and bake.
The cookies are sparkly and pretty, and have a mild strawberry flavor.
12. Almond Diamonds – courtesy of Ursula – made by Holly
4 extra large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups whole almonds
Using a wooden spoon, mix the eggs and continue to mix completely after adding each ingredient. Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with aluminum foil, and spray with Pam. Bake in the center of the oven @ 375 for 10 minutes, transfer to the top oven rack and cook for 10 more minutes.** Remove from oven and immediately turn out onto a cutting board. Let cool completely and, using a sharp knife, cut into diamonds.
I think that does it!
Hope you enjoy these recipes and have lots of fun creating your own “Party-Perfect” cookie tray!
“A”
Of note, the cookies were baked and frozen before assembling the trays.
**Holly tells me that the cookies should be a very light golden brown.
6 comments