Catching up time. Yep, I seem to have allowed the time to slip away with promises that I would post tomorrow. Let's not count the number of tomorrows that entailed, nor the amount of time spent watching seven seasons of a particular television show in a few short weeks, and instead rejoice in the fact that I'm still up to date on my 52 weeks of cookie challenge. Forgive the lack of anything interesting to say, but feel free to enjoy the large number of recipes : Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies (this is my response to Subway's Raspberry Cheesecake Cookies) Glazed Lemon CookiesGingersnaps (the Boss's fave) Raspberry Almond ShortbreadPeanut Butter w/KissesSugar CookiesDouble Doubles (double the fun with nuts and chips) Cinnamon Roll Cookies (lot of work, but well worth it) Maple Pecan Cinnamon Roll Cookies (pure temptation) Orange Clove Cookies (another original, inspired by Zoe Sharp/Charlie Fox) Bailey's Irish Cream/Whiskey sugar Cookies (what better way to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day) Almond Oatmeal Chippers Feel free to pass along any family recipes or suggestions for combinations. I'm always willing to experiment and have some ideas I'm anxious to try. Happy Baking!
Last week at this time found me huddled under a comforter, candles ablaze, lighting one small corner of the room with barely enough light to read the printed page, while wondering how long the power in the Cave would be out.
Four days later, including cold showers, treacherous roads, tree limbs dropping onto the roof, and having to literally break through ice encasing the Deathmobile, the world finally slowed its spin cycle and life returned to normal.
Today we experienced a balmy 50 degrees, sunny skies, and only minuscule traces of snow left in shaded areas of parking lots. Quite the unexpected turn of events, and with the warmer temperatures, comes the rain. Bring it on.
To catch things up, week #3's cookie was a large success. While baking Red Velvet Cupcakes for a co-worker, I got to wondering just how difficult it would be to make Red Velvet Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting. This recipe is going in the keeper file even if it is considered chocolate.
The cookie for week #4 won't even make it out of the kitchen. It's almost as disastrous as the weather last week. I decided to play it simple and go with a recipe that didn't require a lot of ingredients and sounded simple. Let that be a lesson, if it sounds too good to be true... They are called Easy Lemon Shortbread Cookies and are made without eggs.
I've since renamed them Easy Lemon Shortbrick Cookies as that is what they came out to be. Even when I flattened to cookie first before baking. They are dense, very thick through the middle and a heavy chew. A kick of lemon in every bite, but too tough for me to want to introduce to anyone. This is one of the few recipes where I didn't even finish baking the batch. Can you say REJECTS? I'll post the recipe, maybe someone can point out the errors of my way, and I'll definitely be researching this lemon a bit further.  The big Ice Age freeze.
 Two weeks. The holidays have been over for two weeks now and I'm still experiencing a pang of disbelief and a strong sense that I've missed something. Quite possibly the fact that I spent almost all of December working and not enough time in the kitchen, or maybe the threat of snow has me feeling this way.
It's not that I don't like snow, I just dread playing bumper cars with the inexperienced drivers that forget with snow comes ice, and give yourself a lot more time to get there, or at least pay more attention to your driving and a lot less to the last instant text message on your phone. (The latter should be applied in any weather condition) And remind four-wheel drive owners that it doesn't say four-wheel stop. All of this makes me cringe when I hear snow forecasted for the local area.
Please let it hold off until at least Monday afternoon, when I'm tucked safely back in my cave and can turn the oven on for comfort and warmth. I've put away the Christmas music and movies, even if I still have a few, very late cards to still get out.
In the mean time, before I procrastinate further, let me post this week's cookie recipe. This being the second week of an ongoing fifty two week challenge to try a different cookie recipe, that is new to me, each week.
I'm one of the very small contingency of folks that does not care for chocolate. Somehow, that gene got kicked to the curb and bypassed me, so I thought this would be the perfect recipe to try. Not only is it chocolate, but it's double the chocolate, with a small kick by way of cayenne pepper. (Luckily I have a lot of eager taste-testers)
Double Chocolate with Chille CookiesThose brave enough to try them had comments ranging from, 'wow, these are great' to 'oooh, these are spicy'. The tupperware container emptied a lot slower than normal, meaning I should slide the recipe towards the back of the repeat pile, and only bring them out when requested.
The cookie itself came out a bit dense (possibly the chocolate powder), and refused to spread thin giving it a rounded top. All testers agreed the cookie was moist, very chocolate-y, and about half of them ventured to suggest, next time make the cookies without the addition of cayenne pepper.
Earlier in the week I baked Snickerdoodles and Pecan Sandies. The snicks for a book signing at my favorite bookstore, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, and the latter, a birthday request.
I normally don't make New Year's Resolutions, except to resolve not to make any. Yeah, it's hard not to get caught up in the shiny, all-fresh, new and improved, clean slate that is ushered in with writing a different number on the end of today's date. Unfortunately, being my own worst critic, I hate failing. I'm too much of an optimist, and too big of a procrastinator (this post being only five days late) to put any faith in making myself a list and sticking to it. And seriously, I will never in a million years look like Jillian Michaels, cook like Julia Childs, or write like Shakespeare. I can live with that.
The one resolution I do remember keeping for an entire year involved baking cookies, go figure. One different cookie recipe for every week of the year. The co-workers were almost as excited as I was, since they were the major <s>guinea-pigs</s> benefactors, and sounding board for the experiment. That was several years ago, but I remember the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the year, and the addition of several new cookies to my recipe pile.
This year, I'm going to add a twist. I'm willing to try 52 new (to me) cookie recipes and will be posting the result each week, along with the reaction from taste-testers. I'll still be throwing together batches of the 'regulars', and trying to keep up with birthdays and such, so no worries to the faithful few.
I'm also asking for any ideas or suggestions. I don't expect to get Great Aunt Dorothy's family heirloom recipe, although I'm a firm believer in sharing to keep the heritage of hand-me-down recipes in circulation, and I'm willing to bake a batch in trade.
I'm also relabeling it a challenge, rather than a resolution. It sounds more goal oriented, and goes along with my reading challenge on Goodreads.
And to start the challenge, Ginger Doodles, a highly addictive and lighter version of a gingersnap. (click on name for recipe) The snicker doodle family is growing quickly with the additions last year of Pumpkin, Power, and Praline to the already popular Snick, fruit bar, and Chai versions.
May we both enjoy the upcoming New Year and all the pleasant surprises in store for us.
When I think of the word crisp in relation to food my mind conjures up the snapping of a York Peppermint Patty commercial and snow. Refreshing does not come to mind as I look out the window and realize it is still snowing and a cool 37 degrees. That might not be unusual where you live, but here in the northwest it is slightly disconcerting to watch the ground being covered in this white moisture. Give me back my rain.
In the meantime, I chose to hide out in the kitchen and try my hand at making a crispy cookie. Crispy and nutty were the two requirements asked for while a friend regaled me with stories of her mom's wonderful sugar cookies, of which I'm still awaiting the recipe.
After googling 'crispy nutty cookie' I settled for one from allrecipes.com by Cindy Carnes called Nutty Crispy Sugar Cookies. The biggest plus was a sugar cookie that required no refrigeration or rolling out of the dough. Just mix the ingredients and bake.
I took the liberty of substituting almond extract for the vanilla, and using almonds rather than pecans, and then dipping a glass in colored sugar sprinkles to flatten the cookies and give them a finished look. I also baked them the full term, something which I seldom do. Hopefully this will give them more of the crisp sought after as my results usually tend to be on the softer side.
Happy baking.....Nutty Crispy Sugar Cookies
|
RSS Feed
