cookies — Page 4

How to Make a Fondant Reindeer Cupcake/Cake Decoration Video

December 16, 2011 by Jenn

We are on a roll with the Christmas decorating videos these days! It’s so much fun! The ideas are endless, there are unending Pins to Pin on Pinterest and it’s just a jolly good time around this holiday. The thing that gets me every year, and I’m guilty of it, is that WHY IS IT SO STRESSFUL?

Every year, I approach the season with excitement, but as soon as December is two weeks old, I’m freaking out and a ball of stress!! There is always so much to do at home- baking, decorations, finding the perfect tree, wrapping all the presents. At school- Christmas Concert practice, Secret Santa, decorations, Gingerbread Houses, and now, add a business to the mix- cupcakes, cakes, cookies, platters!

There are always so many gifts to buy, despite the fact that every year I say “I’m going to give the gift of time with my family” as if I’m gift enough . . . hahahaha! I’d like to think that I am 😉 but I’m sure they would think differently. I know that I must be on crack when I have those thoughts as they just delay my inevitable freak out, as I run around shopping to buy things I swore I wasn’t going to.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cakes, Cupcakes, Holiday Baking, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: cake, cake decoration, Christmas, cookies, cupcake, cupcake decorating, cupcakes, fondant, Fondant Reindeer, gumpaste, Gumpaste Reindeer, Holidays, how-to, red nose, reindeer, Rudolph, winter

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

October 12, 2011 by Jenn

It’s that time of year . . . pumpkin, pumpkin, and more pumpkin posts!

I’m definitely not complaining. I LOVE pumpkin.

I love pumpkin in all forms . . . pies, cake, cupcakes, . . . but cookies was one way I had never tried.

When I came across this recipe at Recipe Girl, I was definitely willing to give them a try.

I like snickerdoodles. I like pumpkin. What’s to lose? I was bound to like Pumpkin Snickerdoodles!

Step by Step Photos!

Combine the dry ingredients and mix by hand in a separate bowl.

Combine your butter and sugar, and mix it up in your mixer.

Add the pureed pumpkin and eggs.

And mix until well combined.

Form dough into two flat pancakes, and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Prepare your rolling mixture! Cinnamon, sugar, ginger and all spice.

At this point, you should be able to “roll” your cookie in the coating, but as I didn’t make round cookies, there was no rolling to be had. I “rubbed” my dough “pieces” around in the sugar.

Place on your non-stick baking mat to cook.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
(originally from dlynz)

COOKIES:

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
3/4 cup pure unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

ROLLING SUGAR:
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice

1. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter until fluffy. Add sugar and pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients. Beat flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time just until incorporated.

3. Cover dough with plastic and chill for around an hour, or until dough becomes slightly firm.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with nonstick spray). Mix rolling sugar ingredients in a small bowl.

5. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 Tablespoons) or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Use your hands to roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and make sure they’re coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

I did not do this next step, and I recommend you don’t make the same mistake as I did . . . DO IT! “Use a glass with a nice, flat bottom to dip in sugar and flatten the balls.”

6. Bake at 350°F. for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are slightly firm to the touch. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes or so, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Happy Fall and as always, Happy Baking!

Filed Under: Cookies Tagged With: cookies, pumpkin, pumpkin snickerdoodles, snickerdoodles

S’mores Cookies

June 26, 2011 by Jenn

SUMMER!!

I love the LONG hours of daylight.

I love the warm mornings and evenings that you can wear tank tops.

I love camping and living in the lake. I’m convinced that my mother birthed me in a tub (even though she says she didn’t) because I LOVE the water. I would live there if I could . . . lakes, rivers, oceans. But, take a bath . . . NEVER. I hate the bath, I feel it is a chance to for you to sit in your own dirt. At least in the lakes, rivers and oceans you have a chance of encountering fresh water!

As I said, I love camping and nothing brings about the feeling of summer better for me than it! I haven’t had the fortune of getting out in our trailer yet, but, that hasn’t prevented in me from indulging in my favourite summer time treat . . . S’MORES! I adore the fire toasted marshmallow, gooey chocolate, and crunch of a graham cracker delight.

I had been craving one so badly, that when I saw this post, I had to make them for my staff’s next social luncheon. The recipe was fairly simple, the one hiccup being that you need to let the dough sit in the fridge for an hour (and not snack on it while doing so). For some reason, I hate letting the dough sit. I know it is a baking necessity, but it seriously bothers my patience…or lack-there-of!

Other than the dough in the refrigerator problem . . . the rest of the recipe is fairly straight forward. I scooped out the dough using my cookie scoop (to ensure equal sized cookies) and then you bake for around 8 minutes, pull them out, put on the chocolate chunks, and mini marshmallows and put it back in the oven until the marshmallows swell up nice and beautifully!

The original recipe comes from une-deuxsenses blog and I have adapted it to the steps that I took!

Smores Cookies

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

2 regular Hershey bars, roughly chopped

In your KitchenAid mixer (or other, less superior mixer hahaha), combine the butter and sugars and mix until fluffy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Next, add the flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, baking soda and mix well.

Stir in the chocolate chips then cover and refrigerate the dough for about one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Using a cookie/cupcake scoop, portion out the dough and roll into a ball. Drop onto a greased baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of dough, leaving about 2 inches between each to allow it to spread. Bake for 8 minutes, then remove from the oven. Push a 3 – 5 marshmallows and a few pieces of a Hershey’s bar into each cookie. Return to oven and bake for another 2 – 3 minutes until golden brown and the marshmallows are a bit toasted. Let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy the cookies . . . and the summer!

And in case you haven’t heard, I have the CUTEST NIECE in the world! How intelligent is she . . . reading at the age of 6 months. Love her. xoxoxo

What is your favourite summer time treat?

Filed Under: Cupcakes Tagged With: chocolate, cookies, marshmallow, smores, smores cookies, Smores Cookies Recipe

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie

April 2, 2011 by Jenn

Yes, you read that right. A huge chocolate chip cookie, stuffed with an Oreo cookie inside (double stuffed Oreo, I might add!)

This recipe has been ripping around the blogosphere, and I had to jump on the bandwagon. How could I not?! Combining two of the baking world’s greatest things into one huge treat is a MUST do!

I have to say, this particular chocolate chip cookie recipe has just the right amount of salt in it. This “sandwich” (aka glutinous delight) has that perfect sweet and salty aura to it. If you are a sweet and salty lover like myself, you will LOVE this recipe.

I wanted to make something unique for my Cakery’s table at the local Farmers Market for last weekend. A new cupcake table had been set up (in MY spot I have to add), so I wanted to have something unique to sell. My cupcakes have the glam factor to them that makes them the best cupcakes around, but sometimes, you need something novel to bring the people in!

These cookies definitely did the trick. I had one sliced in half, so people could see them from the aisle, and I can’t tell you how many times I heard “Is that a-? Oh! It IS an Oreo!” We sold out of these babies.

The original recipe for this delight comes from the Picky Palate, and if you haven’t been there before, go there now. NO, WAIT! Go when you’re done reading (and commenting) here first!

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

(from Picky Palate)

As usual, start by creaming together butter and sugars . . . ode to the Kitchen Aid. Let’s take a moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . oh, how I love thee.

Next, mix in the eggs.

And the vanilla.

Then the dry stuff . . . yes, that is my near empty container of flour. Man does this job use a lot of flour and sugar! I’m forever buying it . . . and there is a thin layering of white sugar/flour dust on every single instrument in the kitchen!

Add in the chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop, arrange one ball, per cookie.

Next, place an Oreo on top of the original cookie dough ball, and then place another on top of the Oreo.

Gently squeeze the dough together and attach around the whole Oreo. It’s actually simpler than it sounds.

They should look something like these gigantic balls of delicious cookie dough!

Fresh from the oven . . . I’ve put in an Oreo to show you the size of the baked “sandwich”.

YUM! So good. I tried so save this sample version for the market the next day, but I couldn’t resist, and had to eat a half. I left half for Paul (seriously, I managed to resist it’s calls to me all day). I figure it’s all in the name of product research . . . I can’t sell something that I haven’t tried, right?

Here’s the link to the recipe. Thanks Picky Palate for “inventing” such a delightful treat.

Filed Under: Cookies Tagged With: chocolate chip cookies, cookies, Oreo, stuffed cookies

Angel Food Cookies and Acquired Adult Tastes!

February 9, 2011 by Jenn

One of my favourite cakes to make is Angel Food. And my favourite bit of the cake? The super crunchy brown pieces on the top, that just barely don’t overflow onto the floor of the oven . . . where the other dead cakes lay.

As a kid, I used to hate Angel Food. Whenever my mom would make this cake, I would feel gipped out of a real cake. I always craved the super fatty cake! Can you tell I have a weight problems?! Haha. No, seriously.

Now, I crave the taste of THIS cake! I’m not sure how my taste buds have changed to love angel food . . . I guess the same way they changed to love squash, eggplant, cooked cauliflower, and cilantro.

Angel Food Confetti, with whipping cream frosting! Mmmmm! The best part about Angel Food is that it is mostly fat free! Ummm, not so sugar free . . . or fat free with the whipping cream, but I guess it’s better than a regular cake!

Somehow, someone (perhaps moi?) needs to invent a sugar free, fat free cake (with icing!) that TASTES great. Hmmm, I smell a mission! I’ll call it “spring cleaning” . . . cleaning out the sugar and the fat! I’ll be sure to post if I can figure it out.

HELP! What did I just say? Do you have any good recipes for a “healthy” cake?

Bail me out if you can, but for now, back to the post . . . Angel Food Cookies. At first, I didn’t think it would be possible to turn a runny cake mix into a cookie, but it was! All you need to take is one box of your favourite angel food batter (funfetti, hello!), add 1/2 cup of diet rootboor, mix it up and scoop it out! Super simple!

Angel Food Cookies

(adapted from Home Cook’n)

Ingredients:

1 box of angel food mix

1/2 cup of diet rootbeer (or any flavour diet pop of your choosing . . . you can even use water)

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all ingredients together well. Drop by muffin scoop on to lined cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until cookies are JUST browned. *The original recipe said to make sure they didn’t turn brown, and stay white, but to me when I did this, those cookies seemed underbaked. I recommend that you let them brown just slightly. Store in an airtight container.

Too light . . .

Just right . . .

If you’re like me, you would top these babies with strawberry whipping cream! Mix together a 1:2 ratio of strawberry yogurt to whipping cream and you have a sweet topping for these cake cookies.

Next time I am going to let these cookies bake for a couple of minutes longer than I even did . . . get them nice and brown and crispy. I’m still craving the crunchy taste of the cake top that didn’t die 😉

Filed Under: Cakes, Cookies Tagged With: angel food cake, angel food cookies, cookies

Margarita Lime Cookies

January 16, 2011 by Jenn

Margaritas anyone? It’s January! Who would want an icy, summer beverage in the middle of the winter? Someone on the beach in Mexico is my guess. I am not that lucky girl with a cabana boy at my beck and call, so I had to make some changes to your typical margarita. How about we turn it into a warm, moist margarita cookie!?!? That sounds MUCH better for January.

Our dinner theme this month was No Kids! Which really made it an Alcohol Theme. Whoot! Everything that everyone brought had to have alcohol in it. Everyone did outstanding, and dinner was delicious as usual. I’ll be posting snippets of dinner throughout the week, so stay tuned.

I went with a cookie recipe that I had bookmarked some time ago, and it turned out delicious! Light, flaky, sweet and sour. A tastebud sensation. You can make these non-alcoholic quite easily by simply taking out the tequila. Some might say that the tequila is “optional” in this recipe but for this crowd, not so much! I might have put a little extra in too 😉 Oops.

Margarita Lime Cookies

(adapted from MyBakingDom)

FOR THE COOKIES:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons lime juice

2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon tequila (optional…hahahaha)

To make the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then add the lime juice, zest, and milk (and tequila, if using); mix well. Sprinkle half of the flour mixture over the wet ingredients; stir until combined. Sprinkle the rest of the dry ingredients on top and mix until combined.

Drop tablespoonfuls (I used a muffin scooper) of batter onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between the cookies. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until cookies are somewhat firm. Allow to cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling racks. Cool completely before frosting.

FOR THE FROSTING:

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon tequila (optional :))
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

To make the frosting:

Cream together the shortening and butter. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture comes together well. Stir in the vanilla and lime (and tequila, if using) and beat until fluffy. Add the zest and mix well. Frost cookies with a generous amount of frosting.

Next Up: Cosmopolitan Cupcakes!

Filed Under: Cookies Tagged With: cookies, lime, lime margarita

Holiday Baking- Maple Cream Cookies

December 27, 2010 by Jenn

My Grandma is celebrating her 96th Christmas this year. What do you get for a woman who has celebrated her 96th Christmas? I think by the time I reach that age (if the genes carry on) I will be satisfied with enough christmas “stuff.” I have done the books on tape (she has Macular Degeneration so is no longer able to read), Christmas CD’s (she loved that Charlotte Church girl in the 90’s), Christmas scenes for her mantle, World’s Best Grandma signs . . . blah, blah, blah. This year, I decided that I would shove my new love of blogging/baking in her direction and make her favourite cookie! Now, this is always a gamble, because if you have ever conversed with someone in their 90’s, they tend to be fairly set in their ways. My Grandma likes her Maple Cream cookies . . . from the store! I decided that the risk would be worth it . . . and at the very least, I would get a blog post, and another check off on my Holiday Baking List from it. Merry Christmas Grandma! I hope you liked the cookies. Here’s to many more Christmas’ together.

Looking pretty fabulous for her 96th Christmas!

Maple Cream Cookies

adapted from http://sweetpeaskitchen.com

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg and maple extract; beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds.

Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Divide dough into two balls and flatten each ball into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoon maple extract
4 tablespoon butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoon maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from refrigerator onto a lightly floured surface.
With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Use a maple leaf cookie cutter to cut out cookies, placing on prepared baking sheet.
Bake cookies in preheated oven 8-10 minutes, or until edges just start to brown.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheets about 3 minutes; using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.
While cookies are cooling, make the filling by creaming butter in a stand mixer. Add confectioners sugar and maple syrup and beat until combined and smooth.
Using a knife or spoon, spread the filling onto the backside side of the cookie. Top with another cookie, backside down. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Filed Under: Cookies, Holiday Baking Tagged With: cookies, maple cream cookies, sandwich cookies

Holiday Baking-Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

December 21, 2010 by Jenn

Seriously, this cookie has the BEST filling in the middle of it. I, literally, had to refrain from sticking my tongue into the bowl . . . while the beater was beating. It’s just that good. I took the beater off the second it was finished . . . and this is what happened.

SO GOOD!!

I spent a lot of time working with my new camera this morning, and I think I have a couple of things figured out. Well, I do one minute, then can’t remember what I did to get the affect when I try to do it again! It’s coming though . . . and it hasn’t been in my possession 24 hours.

Poinsettia in focus

Tree in focus

Uhhhh...not too sure

Linzer Cookies-Revamped

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Mmmmmmm . . . it was love at first taste.

Best new kitchen tool ever! It’s called the Measure All Cup by Pampered Chef! So easy and so handy. You can use solid, dry, or liquid ingredients. You just set it at your required amount, load it up, and then push the bottom out and every smidgen of the ingredient comes out! My hate on for molasses may be coming to an end.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookie Recipe

(recipe adapted from www.othersideoffifty.com)

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used white as it was all that I had)

Cream together the peanut butters, shortening, butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, scraping down the bowl and beaters after mixing. In a smaller bowl whisk together the baking soda, salt, and flours. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix well to combine.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls two inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork. (I used the plunger from my food processor.) Bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a minute or two on baking sheet before moving to cooling rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cream Filling
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups marshmallow Fluff
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup powdered sugar in a mixing bowl beat together all ingredients except for the powdered sugar until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat well to combine.

To assemble the sandwiches:

Take a tablespoonful of the peanut butter cream and place on bottom of one cookie. Take another cookie and place it, bottom side down, on top of the cream-topped cookie. Flatten slightly to spread the cream evenly.

In my happy place.

Watch out for your tongue in the beaters when you make this!

Enjoy.

Filed Under: Cookies, Holiday Baking Tagged With: cookies, marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, peanut butter cookies