bake: cookie butter blossoms

I usually bake up a storm for the holidays but that was back when I lived in L.A. and had people to share it all with. up here it is mostly just the a-go-go family and if I bake like I used to, much of it would got to waste so I really limited myself to two types of cookies, a pound cake, and these awesome chocolates. The nephew-a-go-go can't do nuts so I went with a childhood fave... snickerdoodles for sure and then I thought of the jar of cookie butter I have been hording forever, why not bake with it? One of my standbys is peanut butter blossoms, I thought why not try them with cookie butter instead? And so I did, kisses and all...

There are many recipes for peanut butter blossoms, I went for this one and cut the brown sugar in half, used real unsalted butter, rolled them in cinnamon and sugar, and popped the dough in the fridge overnight. Unlike the peanut butter blossoms, these did not puff up but spread out. They also did not remain chewy but crisped up like a gingersnap. They were a hit all the same (the bath the mister took to work disappeared pretty quickly) and next time I make them I may just add chopped chocolate to the dough instead of topping them with kisses...oh and the first batch was baked at 10 minutes and were a bit too gooey so go for 12 minutes and enjoy the crunchy goodness that is a cookie butter blossom.

sugar and spice: holiday oatmeal cookies

aka How NOT to make spicy chocolate covered pomegranate oatmeal cookies with white chocolate chips. 

I wanted to share with you a most awesome cookie recipe but sadly my cookies, while amazingly gooey and sweet while hot; fizzled in texture once they cooled down. The texture dealio can be resolved with a few seconds in a microwave but who wants a cookie that is only good right after it is baked? 

I think I need to add another egg to my batter. I only used one and I think two would jazz up the overall cookie more than one could. I also perhaps should have added some baking powder. Jsut a smidge...or maybe I should use a certified recipe? But look at them..they were soooo gooey and pretty...sigh.

I also thought that these cookies would rock the chocolate covered pomegranate seeds I found at Trader Joe's back in November. They no longer have them and I think I know why. As mister puts it..."They're SEEDS! Who wants hard seeds in their cookies?" And so, the next time I make these, I will use chocolated covered cranberries. A little tart, a little sweet, a whole lot of goodness in a cookie.

That said, try these (but not as I made them)! Gather up the ingredients for your favorite oatmeal cookies and then add a happy dose of white chocolate chips and another does of chocolate covered cranberries. Up the ante even more by adding a double does of cinnamon and ginger and then...then add a teaspoon of black pepper. Yes, I wrote it...black pepper! 

Oh but I did discover one thing from this cookie adventure...if your cookies don't flatten out while baking, underbake a smidge so that they are gooey and then SMASH 'em down with a fork...sooooo good! 

experiments in cookie baking: chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal goodies

When I get a hankering for a cookie, I generally go to the kitchen, plop 2 cups of flour into a bowl, add a smidge of this and smidge of that, a teaspoon or so of baking soda, about a cup of sugar, one egg and one stick of butter and mix, mix, mix. If the dough is too sticky, I might add some milk or an extra egg, too wet then more flour or flax meal or perhaps oats. I dollop a scoop or so of dough a dozen times onto a parchment covered cookie sheet and pop into a 350F oven for 10-12 minutes, keeping my fingers crossed that they don't taste awful. 

 These cookies were much like that and I really wish I wrote down what I did because these cookies are keepers. All I remember is that I used brown sugar and oats and a cup of peanut butter and chocolate chips. I am sure I used only one stick of butter but it is posslbe I used a half cup of oil instead. 

 I highly recommend this method, you never know what you might get. And I kinda lied up there as I generally mix the dry ingreients separate from the wet. The butter is most often "softened" in the microwave then hand mixed with the sugar before I add an egg or two. I often also add a teaspoon of vanilla and usually only a pinch or a twist of salt. I use my trusty wooden spoon for al lthe mixing unless the butter is not very soft at all then I use a handmixer. Sometimes I add a package of instant pudding mix.

Depending on the appearance of the dough, I may use my cookie scoop and leave as is or I may flatten with the base of a juice glass sipped in sugar. Sometimes I roll the dough into a ball though I admit I am far too lazy to roll out flat and use cutters though I do have some pretty nifty cutters, I should get over that.

cake mix peanut butter cookies

on thursday, it was weirdly overcast and cool. i say weirdly because we've had a mini heat wave going on and the forecast was for 82. when i stepped out to put a donation bag of clothes into Eleanore aka Henrietta Hippo, i felt quite chilled.

baking was in order. cookie baking. peanut butter cookie baking...with a cake mix as i was feeling too lazy to pull out measuring cups and such. 

*1 box white or yellow cake mix

*1 cup peanut butter

*2 eggs

*1/4 c milk

*chocolate chips (optional)

preheat oven to 350 F. mix up ingredients and add yer chips.

drop by the spoonful onto your cookie sheet (the dough will be super sticky). sprinkle with a smidge of sugar and press the tines of a fork into the tops to create that peanut butter cookie look. you do not have to flatten or smoosh, they bake just fine as a puff ball and do not spread much at all.

bake 10-12 minutes, wait a smidge to cool and enjoy with a cold glass of your favorite milk beverage.

**i think next time i will add more peanut butter, salted peanuts and milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet  and less of them at that.

be my valentine: red velvet shortbread bites

 I really wanted to make cake batter shortbread bits but I had no yellow cake mix in the pantry. I did have Red Velvet cake mix and since it is the month of lurve I thought why not? So I mixed up the dough and liberated my cookie press and got all cookie happy until I discovered the sad truth. Cake mixes have baking powder and such in them...my happily pressed cookies oozed into blobs and showed no hint at their pretty pressed selves. Back to the drawing board I went and I came up with these red velvet sandwich bites which were totally inspired by these photos from Heather of Sprinkle Bakes.

Ingredients:

*3/4 cups confectioners sugar

*1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, soft

*1 cup red velvet cake mix

*1/3 cup flour (more if your dough feels too sticky)

Mix all your ingredients together with a wooden spoon and chill until firm. When mixing ingredients, mix butter and sugar first then add 1/3 cup of flour until incorporated. Next, add the cake mix and then add more flour if the dough is too sticky. I popped my dough into the fridge overnight and let it come to room temperature before rolling.

Roll dough into small balls (smaller than a large marble) and place on cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.

 

 

 

Fill a small bowl with rainbow nonpareils and coat each cookie with the rainbow goodness. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes, the cookies will flatten out considerably.

Once cool, swipe a smidge of cream cheese frosting to the bottom of one cookie, placing another on top, sprinkle sides out. Enjoy!

lovely love: make shortbread bites

 Shortbread cookies are a specialty of mine. I enjoy baking them and my friends enjoy eating them. When I first began baking up shortbread, I went the traditional route and attempted to roll the sugary dough into Martha Stewart-worthy logs with little success. The cookies tasted lovely but looked a little less than. One day, in my haste and frustration, I heaped all the dough onto the cookie sheet into a mound that I squared off with a sharp knife once the cookies were out of the oven. I began calling them shortbread bites and merrily went on my way. This past month, I have been seeing recipes for shortbread bites popping up all over the place. Here are a few pointers I will offer.

Your basic shortbread dough is equal parts butter, flour and sugar....give or take a smidge here or there. I use a little less sugar. The dough is so simple to make and comes together so easily you can whip a batch up with a worn wooden spoon. No mixers needed. Use confectioners/powdered sugar, it adds no grain to the dough. Add a pinch of salt, or better yet, sprinkle a little salt on top. When adding vanilla, forget a measuring spoon, simply add a cap full, that's what my mamos taught me. If you wish to add sprinkles or lavender buds, use your hands and then add a smattering to the top. Make a double batch of dough to store in the freezer. Form one part into a log so you can have instant slice and bake goodness for those gray mornings that need a pick me up. Remove the dough from the oven a minute or two even before the timer goes off. An underbaked shortbread cookie will have a dazzling bit of chew and it changes the whole cookie eating experience. 

When making shortbread bites, you can use a knife to square off edges (don't throw them away, they are just as tasty) and slice through the dough while it is still warm to cut dozens of small bite-sized piece. You can also use an assortment of your smallest cookie cutters. They have a certain charm that enhances the sweetness of the cookie. Most of all, make sure to share the wealth. A small bit of baked goodness can usual brighten the dreariest of days! Happy almost-Febraury!

and then came the cookies

A while back, I entered a cookie recipe in the great Pillsbury Bake-Off. I had an idea and worked on about five variations of the ideas before settling on a cookie to enter. It was chosen because of its overall appeal to my taste testers. There were others we liked a little more but I needed something that could come out tasty consistently all the while looking happy. One of the cookies that didn't make it was inspired by my favorite chocolate crackles. I love the texture of those cookies and was trying to figure out a way to replicate it without making a chocolate treat. 

After much internet searching I found a cake-mix cookie hack (at Tidy Mom) and tried it. Delicious if not a tad too much. I tucked that idea back into my brain and carried on like I usually do. After baking the cake batter blondies I wanted to make a cake batter cookie, so out came the cake mix and the sprinkles and soon, happiness was served.

 

 I used a yellow box mix for these and they held the texture nicely. I would compare them to a thinner, flatter, cake-mixier snickerdoodle. They are super easy to make and your kiddos can play as well.

Enjoy!

A little Thursday love...

Mmmmmm. Shortbread. One of life's sweetest treasures and oh sooooo easy to make! Whenver I have company coming or am about to go a'visiting, I whip up a batch o' shortbread and everyone is happy. All ya need on hand is butter, sugar & flour. Having a little extra is always good too but the simple shortbread cookie should never be overlooked. If your butter isn't soft, nuke it in the microwave or melt it in a pan. You can make shortbread with melted butter, yeppers! I prefer mine softenned but you can melt it if ya like. Expirement with flavors..add some zest or dried fruit or cut up a favorite chocolate bar! Add some spices and nuts or maybe swirl in a little peppermint or vanilla extract. The possibilities are endless and there are soooo many ways you can cook your sweets too. You can roll them into logs then slice & bake as you like. Sometimes I keep a log in the freezer and when I crave a snack I slice of four slices, bake them and enjoy them with a cuppa. The slice and bake version of shortbread is best done when your add ins are fine like spices, liquids and super duper finely chopped chocolate and/or nuts. If your shortbread has some chunky bits in it the nit is best baked in a mound. To do this, I simply heap up the dough onto a cookiesheet pressing it down to similate a square shape. I bake it between 10 and 15 minutes depending on how thick I left it and as soon as I take it out of the oven I trim the edges and cut into wee squares! You can also use cookie cutters to cut out shapes directly after removal from the oven. Hot dough is workable, once it cools though, it crisps up and you will get a mess.

So, go for it, whip up some dough and store it in your fridge or freezer until ready to bake. I like to bake super early in the morning as it makes the casa smell oh so yummy! What is your favorite concotion going to be? Mine is still lavender and chopped chocolate from NewTree

Making candy cookies

making candy cookies, originally uploaded by jek in the box.

While I am a big fan of homemade goodness, sometimes I want the sweets but don't have the time or energy to bake something from scratch. This is where ya gotta lurve slice & bake cookie dough (plus you can sneak a bit o' dough and not worry about salmonella).

This is the one good thing I gleamed from my first nanny gig. Slice and bake cookie treasures that are like a faux cupcake. Super easy, super yummy and perfect fro keeping you up all night for paper writing.

Next up I'll make some fo those magic marshmallow puffs!

Pretty!

Countdown to Heart Day

I adore Valentine's Day! I have always adored Valentine's Day! I never felt all weepy weepy when heart day came around and I had no valentine. I pretty much never had a valentine when heart day came around and having one just gives me another excuse to make more goodies! With the houseguest on her way back home I have a moment to attempt to cram 14 days worth of Heart Day fun into one but what I think I am going to do is post all week so you will have to make stuff all week long for those you lurve. Today's activity is Shortbread Necklaces. Doesn't that look purdy? Shortbread Necklaces are super yummy too and so simple you will want to make them for any and all holidays. Arbor day? Check! May Day? Check! Yell Fudge at the Cobras Day? Check! See, shortbread necklaces are for all holidays and unbirthdays too. Try 'em, you'll be hooked! Oh and pssst...you can see how to make them here and this is the same recipe I use for my famous Lavender Shortbread. I add a tablespoon dried lavender buds and a squeeze of fresh lemon to the dough and then I roll it in more chopped lavender and superfine sugar. I chill the logs in the fridge and slice and bake! This dough keeps wonderfully in the freezer and bakes up from frozen just fine! Trust me, these are good! Just ask Ms. Susan Stars, she'll vouch for me and so will the mastermind behind biggerKrissy, we did a swap and she asked for cookies! And yes, I will swap...

for some more Valentine's lovlies you can take a peek at my Heart Day Kaboodle Page or check out Mary Jo Matsumoto's nifty purdy lipstick bags!