Taffy Treats

The title and the picture does have a way of leading you down the wrong path.  Let me clarify a few things: these are not candy, but caramel coated cookies and there is none of the traditional taffy in this recipe. The only link to taffy is that the filling and coating is stretchy, much like the taffy.  Sorry for the taffy fans, but if you love caramel and nuts, gladly read on. Clearly, the person that won the baking contest with this treat must be in your nutty caramel circle.

If I had to name these little goodies, I would call them nut caramel clusters. There is a walnut praline filling inside and then they are coated with caramel and walnuts.  The cookie itself tastes like a butter cookie. Surprisingly, these are made with both powdered sugar and brown sugar. The outside caramel is the soft, chewy kind with a deep, buttery flavor. The layer of caramel in a Milkyway bar is the same.

The filling, forming and coating is what requires the most time to create these.  You could make your own caramel, but this recipe only calls for softening store-bought caramels.  It is a time saver and I do not feel that it detracts any from the flavor.

Anyhow, these morsels are as delicious as they look.  For parties, dress them up with colored toothpicks and place them in 1 1/2" candy papers. However, feel confident that these will be eaten quickly, regardless of how fancy the presentation.

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.  Be sure to read the helpful tips and notes at the end before you begin.

Taffy Treats
adapted from the Plymouth Star Tribune

Ingredients/ filling
1/3 cup ground walnuts
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup sugar

Ingredients/cookies
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter (room temp)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 cups sifted flour

Ingredients/ coating
14 oz of caramels (approx 48-50 caramels)
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup ground walnuts
Toothpicks for dipping and serving

The first step is to make the filling.  Place all filling ingredients in a saucepan.  Cook and stir constantly until thick, about 5 minutes.  You should be able to scrape the bottom of the interior of the pan and have the streak remain for at least 20 seconds before the filling flows back to cover it.  Remove from heat and set aside.  It will set up more upon cooling.

For the cookies, prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill a mixing bowl with the butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar and salt.  Beat until smooth and creamy.  Then beat in egg and vanilla extract. Once blended, mix in the flour with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Take the dough and form into 1 inch balls.  Make a depression with your thumb and fill indentation with 1/4 tsp of walnut filling. Seal in filling and shape back into a ball.  Place each on baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.  Bake until golden brown on bottom, about 15-18 minutes.  Remove cookies from the oven and gently insert toothpick into center and transfer to cooling rack. Let completely cool prior to coating.

Set up a double boiler for the caramel coating and place over medium heat. Then lay a sheet of wax paper and a bowl full of the ground walnuts aside. Once water starts to simmer in bottom pot, pour evaporated milk and add caramels to top pot.  Let mixture melt, stirring occasionally.  After all caramels are melted and blended with the milk, you are ready to dip the cookies by using the toothpick. Dip each cookie into the caramel and let the excess drip off. Then coat the bottom by placing in the ground walnuts.  Transfer to wax paper and allow to set.

Tips and notes:
1. The forming process is best done in dozen increments.  Forming several dozen indented rounds prior to filling will cause the dough to dry out and crack while it sits.

2. To fill and seal, I dampened my fingers to pull out the filling, to place in the indentation and to seal inside.

3. The recipe suggests using the microwave to melt the caramels or removing the double boiler from the heat.  I used a double boiler and left it on the heat to maintain the caramel consistency while dipping. The microwave method would not allow for this.

4. How much you cover your cookies with the caramel or walnuts is your option.  If you plan for full coverage, don't roll the cookies around in the nuts. Placing it in the nuts to cover the bottom and sprinkling the nuts on the top is the best way to keep all the caramel on the cookie instead of having it drip off into the nuts.

5. I used Kraft brand caramels (comes in an 11 oz bag) and the coating was soft and smooth.  If for any reason your coating is too thick, adjust by adding a tablespoon at a time of evaporated milk or water until desired consistency is met. Eenjoy!
                             **LAST YEAR: Peach Brandy Pound Cake**

Graham Cracker Madeleines

After the rich indulgence I posted last week, I was determined this week to make something lighter.  These cookies were a nice alternative.  Something a little sweet to have with tea or coffee.

Someone at work said that these were a pain to make, however, I beg to differ.  You can make the batter on one day and bake the next, so each process is easier to squeeze into the day. I actually made three different kinds, but this recipe turned out to be the favorite. 

Graham cracker flavored anything is hard to come by in baked goods, except for cheesecake crust and playing the part in a s'more type of treat. I did like the stand alone flavor of these, which is why they have no glaze on them.  You can take it up a notch and dip them in chocolate if you crave something a little sweeter.  As is, the cake-like, moist texture makes them perfect for dunking. The recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Graham Cracker Madeleines
adapted from We Love Madeleines

Ingredients
1/2 cup or 1 stick melted butter
2 eggs (room temp)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2/3 cup of sugar
 
Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat on medium high speed for about 5 minutes.  The mixture should convert to a pale yellow, shiny batter and the sugar be totally dissolved. Using a wooden spoon, fold in the graham crumbs and the flour until all is blended.  Then stir in the butter until it is completely incorporated into the batter.

Pour batter into a shallow bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate batter for at least one hour or the maximum, which is overnight.  After the chill time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Also, prepare your pans by greasing the cavities with melted butter and then dusting with flour.

Spoon or pipe the batter into the pan cavities evenly.  They should be about 2/3 full.  Place pans in oven, putting one pan on a rack to the right and the other pan on the rack below it to the left.  They should be staggered to bake evenly.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes, rotating pans at the halfway mark.  Madeleines are done when tester inserted into the thickest part comes out clean.

After the pans are removed from the oven, invert cookies onto wire rack for cooling.  These can be served warm or at room temperature.

Tips and Notes:
1. Regardless of pan type (shiny, silicone or non stick) the pans need to be greased and floured for every batch baked.
2. If using a non-stick pan, take note that it is darker so the cookies will brown faster.  In the non-stick pans, mine took about 7-8 minutes.
3. if you only have 1 pan, refrigerate the batter between batches.
                                 **LAST YEAR: German Carmelite Sister Cookies**         

Chocolate Caramel Sandwich Cookies

I really do not make sandwich cookies all that often.  I believe it is the time factor.  My attitude is that if you are going bake something that requires a lot of time, make sure that the results are well worth it. 

These proved to be a worthwhile endeavor.  You will not find this type of cookie sitting on the grocery shelf, which makes it unusual. The flavors and textures really compliment each other.  Between the crumbly rich chocolate of the cookie and the buttery chewy caramel, these bite size morsels really do hit the spot.

This recipe states that it makes 30 cookies, but for some reason I ended up with nearly double that amount.


Chocolate Caramel Sandwich Cookies
adapted from Bon Appetit/Nov 2010 issue

Ingredients/Caramel
1/4 cup butter (cut into cubes)
2 1/4 cup of sugar
1 tbs light corn syrup
1/3 cup of honey
2 tbs vanilla extract or a lengthwise split vanilla bean
1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Ingredients/Cookie
1 cup plus 1 tbs sugar
2/3 cup natural cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 egg
3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks of butter
1/4 tsp salt

Prepare an 8X8 square cake pan by brushing oil on the interior of the pan.  Then line the bottom with parchment paper and brush the surface of the paper with oil as well.

To make the caramel, fill a medium size saucepan with the sugar, cream, honey and corn syrup.  If using vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the mixture.  Place pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Increase the heat and stop stirring.  Using a candy thermometer as a gauge, let the mixture come to a boil and cook until it registers about 250 degrees.  This should take about 8 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and add butter.  If using vanilla extract, add it at this time.  Stir until butter is completely melted and mixture is smooth.  Pour into prepared cake pan.  Let caramel cool completely.

While that is cooling, the cookies can be made.  Sift together flour, salt and cocoa powder in one bowl.  In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the egg and beat for 15 seconds and then scrape down sides of bowl.  Beat for an additional 15 seconds.  Using a wooden spoon or spatula, fold in the sifted ingredients.

Form the dough into a flat disc and cover with plastic wrap.  Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Once the dough has chilled, roll out to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut out rounds using a 1 1/2 inch  cookie cutter.  Place each round 1 inch apart on cookie sheet.  Bake cookies for about 12 minutes.  They should have a firm center when done.  Remove baked cookies from pan and place on rack to cool. Repeat the process until all the dough has been converted to cooled cookies.

Invert caramel filled pan onto smooth clean surface.  Peel off parchment paper.  Take a 1 inch round cutter and cut out caramel disks.  Place each disk on the bottom side of a cookie and top with an additional cookie, with bottom side facing caramel.  Press lightly and repeat process until all cookies are sandwiched together.
                           **Last Year: Maui Pine Cream Pie**

 

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

I am a big fan of cinnamon and nuts, especially when it comes to pastry.  However, the idea of having a special pastry every time I crave the flavor combination would be excessive indulgence.  So what is a person to do?  Looking around for the solution, I landed on the perfect item- a cookie with all the flavor of a cinnamon roll.

This cookie is thick and packed with pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Also, the creams cheese icing is a must when it comes to cinnamon rolls and it was not left out of this recipe. The good thing here is that the icing is put on right before serving.  However, and even more convenient idea is to serve the cookies on a plate with the icing in a bowl for dipping.

Please allow plenty of advance time to make these, the dough does require a lot of chilling time.  The first session is for 1 hour but the second states 1 hour or overnight, noting that overnight is preferred.  Also, leave your cookie sheet in the cabinet, these are actually baked in muffin pans. The recipe makes 2 dz cookies. 


Cinnamon Roll Cookies
adapted from The Cravory in San Diego via nymag.com

Ingredients/Cookie Dough
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup or 2 sticks butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 cups plus 1 tsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Ingredients/Filling
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
1 tbs cinnamon
1/4 cup or 1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Ingredients/ Icing Drizzle
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
3 tbs milk
2 oz softened cream cheese
2 oz softened butter
1 vanilla bean (scraped)
Zest of 1/2 orange (optional)

To make the dough, cream together the butter and the three types of sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Once smooth, add one egg and beat for about 30 seconds.  Continue with the process on the rest of the eggs, adding each one by one.  Then beat in the vanilla extract.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the cornstarch, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Add 1/3 of the sifted ingredients to the egg batter and mix on low speed until no streaks remain. Add the additional flour in two increments, blending after each addition.  Form dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

While that is chilling, you can prepare the filling.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar and cinnamon.  Lastly, mix in the pecans until evenly distributed.

After an hour, remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to form a 10X10 square. Spread the filling over the dough evenly.  Then roll it up and wrap with plastic wrap and chill again at least one hour or overnight, preferably overnight.

Once the chilling time has completed, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the cavities of 2 one dozen muffin tins.  Remove the dough roll from the refrigerator and slice evenly into 24 pieces.  Place each piece into one of the muffin cavities.

Put pans in oven and bake until lightly golden, which should take about 15 minutes.  At the 7.5 minute mark, rotate pans for even baking. Remove the muffin tins and place on rack to cool. Cool cookies completely in pan before removing.

Once you are ready to serve these, prepare the icing by beating together the cream cheese and the butter until smooth.  Then beat in the powdered sugar in 3 increments, scraping down bowl after each time.  Then beat in the vanilla bean and the orange zest (optional).  Lastly whisk in the milk until the icing reaches a smooth consistency.  Drizzle the icing on top and enjoy.
                            **LAST YEAR: Coconut Apple Walnut Bread***  

Trucker Cookies

The best thing about cookies is that no one ever complains that there are too many add ins.  I can't even imagine anyone saying: "There is too many chocolate chips in these cookies..".  Based on that there are so many varieties out there-the possibilities are endless.

Due to the age of this recipe I am unable to link directly back to it.  Actually if you search on "trucker" cookie in the net it pulls up several different recipes, so the name is far from being unique.

Along with all the tasty add ins, I think that grains in a cookie does add a little touch of healthiness as well as texture.  These particular cookies actually have rice crispies in the batter along with the oats. The recipe also calls for butter flavored crisco.  I rarely use this ingredient, but it does seem to give the cookie batter an extra rich flavor.

These cookies prove to be a pretty tasty snack for all ages, so do not just limit them to the kids lunchboxes!   Another benefit is that they do not require a lot of time in the kitchen to make. This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Trucker Cookies
adapted from  Newlyweds-blog.com

Ingredients
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 cup shredded sweet coconut
1 tbs milk
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup Rice Krispies cereal
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare pans by lining with parchment paper or greasing lightly.

Sift together the baking soda, salt and flour.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening with the two sugars.  Once it reaches a fluffy consistency, beat in each egg.  Then add the milk and vanilla extract.  Beat again until all ingredients are thoroughly blended.

Using a wooden spoon, mix in the rice krispies and rolled oats.  Then stir in the sifted ingredients. Once no more dry streaks remain, fold in the chocolate chips, nuts and coconut.

Place tablespoon sized scoops of batter onto baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart.  Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes or until the edges have turned golden and toasty.  Remove from oven and place baking sheet on rack to cool.  After 2 minutes, transfer cookies to rack to finish cooling.
                        **LAST YEAR: Harvest Spice Bites**

Brown Sugar Peanut Squares

If you know me, then you know that I favor peanut brittle as well as pralines.  I was wanting to make some cookies and I did come across a few recipes, one had praline chunks mixed in and the other had crunched up caramelized peanuts on top.  Since the ones with the topper seemed to have more of the nut crunch for each cookie, I chose the ones with the topper.

These particular cookies hail from Columbia and are called "cucas" in their country.  The blend of brown sugar as well as peanuts are ingredients that seem to pop up a lot when it comes to baked goods for Central as well as South America.

The cookies, even though flat, have a soft texture.  They are basically a brown sugar
cookie and would be appropriate for high tea as well as brunch.  However, adding the frosting and caramelized peanuts on top, really turn them into an all around cookie.  It is those extras that really make me consider this recipe to be a definite keeper. Also, the texture contrast of the soft cookie with the crunch of the peanut topping makes for a great bite. This recipe makes about 30 cookies.

Brown Sugar Peanut Squares or Cucas
adapted from International Cookie Cookbook

Ingredients/Cookies
1 cup or 2 sticks of butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup of packed dark brown sugar
2 1/3 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder

Ingredients/Topping
2 tbs packed dark brown sugar
3 tbs granulated sugar
1 cup finely chopped skinless unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup or 1/2 stick butter
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

In one bowl, sift together the baking powder and the flour.  Set aside.  Fill another bowl with the butter and dark brown sugar and beat until smooth.  Add the egg and egg yolk and beat for about 1 minute.

Take out a wooden spoon and mix the sifted ingredients into the butter mixture until no dry streaks remain.  Place the dough between two long sheets of wax paper.  Roll out to a rectangle that it 1/4 inch thick.  I ended up with a rectangle 10X17 inches.  Place wax paper covered dough in the fridge to chill for 15-20 minutes.

During the chilling time, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Also prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.

Once chilled, remove the dough and lift off top sheet of wax paper.  Place back on top and flip dough over and then peel off the wax paper on the face up side.  Using a knife or pastry wheel, cut dough into rectangles, measuring 1 1/2 X 2 1/2.  Place each rectangle on a baking sheet about 1 1/4 inch apart. Continue to cut and place on sheet and then re-roll scraps, following the same instructions.

Place pan in oven and baked 8-10 minutes or until edges have turned more golden than the color of the cookie dough. Remove pan and let cool for 3 minutes and then transfer to rack to finish cooling.
 
For topping, place granulated sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Once sugar has melted, stir in the peanuts.  Continue to stir and let cook until peanuts turn brown, crispy and fragrant.  If it starts to smoke and overheat, lift pan off burner to cool slightly and then place back on heat and stir. Do not let burn or over cook.  Empty contents into a heat proof bowl when done and let cool completely.  Once cool, you can break up any big clumps that formed.

In a small bowl beat together butter and brown sugar together until smooth.  Then beat in the powdered sugar until no dry streaks remain.

Then ice cooled cookies and immediately sprinkle the caramelized nuts on top and press them lightly into the icing.

Tips and notes:
1.  The nut mixture seemed too dry to me, so I added 1 tbs of glucose and let cook for about 15 seconds while stirring.
2. The frosting was too thick to spread, so I added some water and put in in a squirt bottle instead of spreading with a knife.
3. I used a 2 inch square cookie cutter, which was easier and insured straight edges.
                               **LAST YEAR- Black Casino Cake**

Dessert Components

This particular post is the recipe for several components used in a recipe that I will be posting tomorrow.  The recipes have been halved from the original since they make an excess of what is called for.  Even when halving and I still had some inverse sugar left overs.  This component does come in handy when making other things, so I am sure there will not be any waste. These recipes hail from Johnny Iuzzini, a famous four star pastry chef.

The first is the cookies.  These cookies are good for use as a garnish for frozen treats and a base for sorbet, uncooked cheesecake, whipped cream with fruit-and the list goes on.  In using this dough, I found it to be very sticky.  Instead of cutting out the dough and placing it, I had to improvise.  Below are the instructions on how I handled the process.  I used this recipe to make 10 cookies, 2 1/2 inches in diameter, even though the stated amount should have been 8, according to halving exactly.

Graham Cracker Sable Cookies
adapted from Dessert Fourplay

Ingredients
3 tbs flour
1 beaten egg
3 tbs butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 3 tbs plus 1 1/2 tsp graham cracker crumbs
2 tbs sugar

Mix together the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar until even distributed and crumbly. Stir in the eggs until blended.  Lastly, fold in the flour, making sure no dry streaks remain.  Place on a floured surface and shape into a brick.  Then wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Once the dough has chilled properly, remove and shape into 10 equal and round balls.  Place one ball on the parchment lined baking sheet and place a 5 inch square of parchment paper over the ball.  Using a small pastry roller, roll the ball out into a circle, about 1/8 inch thick.  Then remove the top parchment sheet and place your cutter over the surface.  Press down and remove excess from around the cutter.  Continue
with the process until all cookies are formed.

Place baking sheet in the oven and bake for 12-13 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove and let cookies cool on pan for about 3 minutes then transfer to rack to finish cooling.

The second is the simple syrup.  This is a great item to dip fruits in when you want an extra sweetness without impacting the texture and the freshness of the fruit. Also, this syrup does have a long life if kept covered tightly and stored in the refrigerator. The recipe below makes 1 1/4 cups.

Simple Syrup
adapted from Dessert Fourplay

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Combine both ingredients in a saucepan and place over medium heat.  Let come to a boil and cook until the sugar is dissolved.  Pour into a heatproof bowl and let cool completely before using.

The third is the invert sugar, which is actually a homemade version of invertase. Invertase is used commercially in the creation of frozen desserts.  At one time, I had posted a note that all homemade ice cream does have a tendency to get icy after a few days in the freezer.  This recipe states that this ingredient is the key to creating a smoother texture in frozen desserts as well as keeping water crystals from forming.  In the recipes I have seen, it does not require very much.  I saw 4 teaspoons or 1 tablespoon per quart of ice cream on a few ice cream recipes.  The recipe below makes a little under 1/2 cup.

Invert Sugar 
adapted from Dessert Fourplay
(below is 1/4 of original recipe measurements)

Ingredients
1/2 cup plus 1 tbs sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a slow boil.  Then turn down the heat and let the mixture actively simmer for about 30 minutes.  This cook time should rid the sugar of any acid taste from the lemon.  You can attempt to taste, but it is very hot.  Let cool for 15 minutes and then taste.  If still acidic, place back on stove and let simmer 5-10 more minutes.  Remove and pour into a heatproof bowl or container.  Let cool completely before using.

Come back tomorrow to see what I make from these components.

Orange Crisps

I made about 14 dozen of these cookies.  One thing about making something in such large quantity, is that your kitchen equipment really does get a workout. Also, since these were spritz cookies and my press is not electric-my left hand has a much stronger grip now!  The press I was using had plastic templates.  Needless to say two split.

This particular recipe is a recipe specifically made for a press, so obviously this press is fine if you want to make a few dozen cookies for a brunch with a few friends.  Not for cranking out several dozen.  I am now wondering why I did not get a press with metal templates.  Anyhow, this recipe did have one obvious error, it advised to use parchment paper.  The dough did not stick to the paper, but remained on the press.  They did fine on an un-greased baking sheet.

The cookies are pretty much your standard spritz with an orange flavor.  They were some of the ones I made for a grand opening for a new hospital at Ft Hood Army Base.  I had to consider something that would present well and would hold up to Texas heat since these cookies were being transported.  However, if I was in Alaska, I would not have hesitated to dip these in chocolate!

I had some taste testers in house this weekend that really did like them, so I am confident that these will go over well.

Orange Crisps
by Recipelink.com   (recipe makes 6-7 dz)

Ingredients
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbs orange juice
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup shortening

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium size bowl.  Set aside.

In another bowl, beat together both sugars and shortening until smooth.  Then add egg, zest and orange juice.  Mix ingredients until all is evenly distributed.  Then fold in the sifted ingredients.

Fill cookie press and form cookies on baking sheet according to press manufacturer's directions.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Transfer to rack and let cool.

Tips and Notes:
1. no matter how long it takes to form and bake these cookies, do not refrigerate the dough.
2. To make sure that dough continues to stick to the baking sheet and come off the press, wipe off the grease from the baking sheet between uses.
                           **LAST YEAR: S'more Ice Cream**

Cherry Sachet Cookies

 Today sachets are known for just making things smell sweet. Basically like a bag of potpourri to place in your drawer. Now they are not only for that, but there are several different type of fillings as well.  The variety has most likely come about with potpourri being introduced into the market.

Early on, they were considered a love token.  Then with the medievil era, they were considered "plague bags" to ward off insect and disease.  In the 19th century, Prince Albert had some which were filled with hops and used them to help induce him to sleep.

These particular cookies are like a filled pouch,  much like a sachet. Also, the filling does have its own special aroma when cooking-however the alcohol fumes can be overwhelming!

The outside cookie is made with cream cheese and cooks up very crisp.  Inside is a chewy mixture of cherries and almonds.  The cherries are cooked in a blend of creme de cacao and creme de noyaux.  This is kind of like a fig newton with its own unique filling and a crisper cookie shell.

Before we get to the recipe I have a few bloggers to thank:

CJ at Food Stories: She was so nice to award me with not just one but three awards!  CJ started her blog in January and has really bounded onto the scene.  She has a great angle of creating something with the same ingredient as called for on that particular national food day.  Also, she created her own special award for bloggers.  A few of my food pics from her site are the deep dish chocolate chip cookies and cauliflower rice.

Ambreen at Simply Sweet and Savory:She passed the Versatile blogger award to me. Her blog does showcase her skill for both sides of the fence.  With stunning photos, you will be enticed by a number of her posts.  Not only can you find delicious recipes, but a lot of them you cannot find anywhere else.

Stop in and say hi, you will be glad you did.

Cherry Sachet Cookies  -makes about 2 dozen cookies
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Filling
3/4 cup creme de cacao
3/4 cup creme de noyaux or amaretto (almond liqueur)
2/3 cups of  chopped dried cherries
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup sugar

Ingredients/Cookie
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 oz softened cream cheese
1/4 cup or 1/2 stick of butter
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

To make the filling, pour liquid filing ingredients into saucepan and add sugar.  Place over medium high heat and stir until sugar has dissolved.  Then add the cherries.  Let simmer and come to a low boil, stirring occasionally.  Cook for 15-20 minutes.  You want that the mixture to become syrupy and most of the liquid to evaporate.  Remove from heat and stir in chopped almonds.  Let cool to room temperature.

The cookie batter can be made while the filling is cooling.  Beat together the cream cheese, butter  and flavor extracts until light and fluffy.  Add the sugar and the egg and mix until completely blended.  Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Then fold into cream cheese batter until no dry streaks remain.  Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter the inside of one baking sheet.

Once the dough has chilled, roll it out on a floured surface  about 16 x 5 inches and 1/4 inch in height. Then cut in half, making 2 rectangles 8X5.  Then spoon filling down the length of the bottom half of each rectangle, leaving a 1/4 inch border on the right/left and bottom. Use a knife to smooth it out evenly.  Fold dough over and seal edges.  Then push bottom length and folded edge closer together so there are no air pockets and fold sealed edges under.

Place each on a baking sheet about 3-4 inches apart.  Then bake until the edges become crispy, about 25-30 minutes.  Remove and quickly slice into pieces and place on rack to finish cooling.

Tips and Notes:
1. When chopping, use your judgment on size of pieces.  The smaller the pieces are the more of a clean cut you will get.
2. You want to make sure that the filling is distributed evenly, so you do not have a big chunk of cookie without filling.
3. Feel free to use cherry juice or other liquids if you want this to be non-alcoholic.
                         **LAST YEAR:Passion Fruit Cupcakes**
 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies/ Delicious Recall #1

I have started a new monthly series.  This series will feature a bloggers recipe that I have saved from 2011 or older.  I think that the best form of flattery to a food blogger is to actually have someone make and enjoy their recipes.  With my core group of followers being food bloggers themselves, most are busy creating their own recipes rather than making other people's recipes. I have fallen into that group as well but have decided this theme is in order.

The recipe may or may not be a blogger that follows my blog, for the choice is strictly based on my pick of things I have seen across the net.

This first recipe is from Bakers Royale , a blog in which I was lurking on way before I even started a blog.  With most of the recipes falling into the cakes or cookies category,  I found myself saving a lot of recipes from Naomi's site.

This particular cookie recipe intrigued me and it did not disappoint.  It is oatey with a subtle flavor of pumpkin and spices.   I took her suggestion and added mini chocolate chips and toffee bits. The batter is a great base that you can customize with add ins according to taste.  With the pumpkin and grains, they are a little bit on the healthier side when it comes to cookies, which is a good thing. Also the texture of the cookies were chewy, which can be attributed to all the oats in the recipe. I would say that they are very close to the same as a chewy granola bar.

This is a great cookie to eat on the run and put in the lunchbox as well.  Very filling and satisfying.  I am glad I kept this one from the past. This recipe makes about 3 1/2-4 dz cookies, depending on the size of your batter scoops.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from  Bakers Royale

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (cut into cubes)
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)
1 egg
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup quick oats
3/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
Add ins: (optional) 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
                                3/4 cup toasted nuts
                                1/2 cup toffee bits

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.

Take a small saucepan and place over medium heat.  Whisk as the butter melts and then cooks.  The butter will foam up once melted and then the foam will subside.  Watch for little brown specks to form in the bottom and look for the color change from yellow to golden.  Watch carefully because it can go from brown to burnt quickly.  Once golden, remove from heat and let cool.

In a medium bowl, mix together both kinds of oats and and the flour until all is evenly distributed.  Set aside.

Fill a large mixer bowl with both sugars, egg, pumpkin puree, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Beat for about 30 seconds until smooth.  Then, using a wooden spoon, stir in the brown butter until incorporated and then add the baking soda and mix again.  Fold in the oat/flour mixture until no dry streaks remain. Should you opt for the add ins, fold them in at this time.

Using a tablespoon or a melon baller, scoop out batter and place on cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Bake for about 10-15 minutes.  They should have a golden hue when done.  Remove baking sheet and place on rack. Let cookies cool on sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to rack to finish cooling.

Tips and Notes:
1.  These cookies will brown but be a bit glossy when done, which may make you think they are undercooked.  They will set up when they cool.  Browning on the bottom is the true indicator of doneness.
2. If you want the pumpkin flavor to be more prominent, then use no add ins or less flavorful ones like nuts instead of chocolate.
                       **LAST YEAR: Espresso Cream Cake**

Amadeus Cookies

Well we all have the traditional recipes in our family that are handed down from generation to generation.  However, how often is it that you come across a recipe that is so good that it makes you want to start your own tradition?  For me it is not that often.  However, after baking and tasting these particular cookies, I am convinced to make them every year at Christmas. So those classic cookies will need to give way so these gems can appear on the holiday cookie tray.

I know you are wondering what makes these so great.  It is hard to pinpoint one singular thing about them so I will cover all of the elements. The outer part is a shortbread type of cookie, which can stand alone in taste.  The filling is a unique blend of pistachios, almond paste and cherry brandy.  This amazing filling is what really makes these cookies extra special.  In fact, I found myself doing probably too much taste testing of that element!

Also, if that is not enough there is a suggestion to dip these halfway into a chocolate glaze.  Due to the Texas weather and that these cookies will be going to Ft Hood, I declined on dipping these in chocolate.

So if you are looking for some special and unique cookies, I hope you will try these. This recipe makes about 2 dozen.

Now before we get to the recipe, I wanted to give a special thanks to a few bloggers that passed the Versatile blogger award to me:

Jodie at Binomial Baker  -  This blogger just states that she is a college student cooking her way through life.  However, you will not find the typical college fare at her blog.  I wished when I was in college I had a friend preparing food like she does. From Lemon gnocchi to Chai Tea Muffins her recipes are sure to please.  

Bloggy Writer at Food Lovers Club -this blogger is fairly new to the scene, but she is off to a great start.  I already have bookmarked her Apple and Walnut Ice Cream as well as the Pan Smoked Chicken Breasts.

Take a moment and check out their sites if you haven't already!

Now for the recipe.

Amadeus Cookies
adapted from Saveur Magazine, Feb 2009

Ingredients/Cookies
3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks of butter
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Ingredients/Filling
3.5 oz of almond paste, chopped (I used half of 7 oz box)
1/2 cup unsalted shelled pistachios
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs cherry liqueur or cherry brandy
1 tbs sugar

To make the cookie dough, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Then add the 1/2 cup of flour and salt, then mix until no dry streaks remain.  Beat in egg yolks, one at a time for 30 seconds.  Then, using a wooden spoon fold in the remaining flour, forming a dough.

Once all the flour is incorporated, take out 4 sheets of wax paper.  Each should be about 12 inches long.  Separate the dough into 2 sections.  Place one piece on a sheet of wax paper and shape into a flat disk.  Then cover with another sheet of wax paper.  Repeat the process with the other piece of the dough.  Then stack the two disks on top of each other and place stack on baking sheet and refrigerate dough for 1 hour.

During this time you can make the filling.  Fill a large bowl of a food processor with the sugar and the pistachios.  Cover and process for about 45 seconds or until the nuts are ground into small pieces.  Add the almond paste and process again for 45 seconds.  Pour in the cherry liqueur and the vanilla extract and pulse until all liquids are equally distributed into filling.  Set mixture aside.

After 45 minutes have passed of chilling time for the dough, preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Dust a flat surface lightly with flour.  Take out one of the disks of dough and roll into a 1/8 inch thickness using a rolling pin.  Cut out circles with a round cutter, about 1 3/4 in diameter. Place cut outs 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet.  Bake in oven until edges turn golden, which is about 20 minutes.  Pans will need to be rotated at the halfway point.  Remove pan and transfer cookies to a cooling rack.  Continue with this process until all dough has been formed and baked into cookies.

Once cookies have cooled, pair them up so they sandwich well together.  Place one cookie in each pair with the underside facing up.  On each underside, place 1 tsp full of filling and flatten it slightly.  Then press the other matching cookie on top.  After this, you can dip the cookies in melted chocolate if you prefer.  Then place back on rack to let the glaze solidify.
                    **LAST YEAR: Dark Chocolate and Orange Muffins**                 

 

   

Watermelon Margarita Cookies

This is probably about the most unusual cookie recipe I have seen.  In addition, the cookies are quite striking, even though they do not have much of a "natural look".  I was thinking that they would come out more pinkish than orange, but I did learn that trying to color a batter that already has a color is futile.Next go around I will not be bothering with the food coloring as suggested in the recipe.  The cookies will be a paler orange color, but never the pinkish red hue of the watermelon.  Probably the other ingredients in the recipe had an impact on the color.

The cookie itself does have all the taste of a margarita.  In one bite you can taste the lime and a subtle flavor of watermelon, then you get the nice rich taste of the dark chocolate.  I never knew how good chocolate can be when paired with the fruity tart flavors of a margarita!  The texture of the cookie is soft and cake-like.

This is definitely one that gets people's curiosity.  After my husband advised his friends at work what I had made, they all wanted some! I am still waiting for feedback on the ones he took today.  I  think these are a great cookie for entertaining as well as enjoying at happy hour-with none other than a margarita.  However, for those of you are seeking something without alcohol, there is instruction below to make a non alcoholic version.

Also, I wanted to thank a few fellow bloggers for awards.

For the Kreative Award:
Becky at Baking and Cooking has been so gracious to pass more than one award to me.  I have already introduced this amazing lady before and I am still enjoying her blog as well as her sweet personality.  I am glad to have Becky as a blogger friend.

For the Versatile Blogger Award
Heidi at Young Grasshopper -do not let the mother and lawyer fool you, this lady wears many hats and is skillful at it.  With tabs like "the bartender in me" and "the chef in me" I am sure anyone can find something to their liking.  I particularly liked her posts of Chicken Meatball Yakitori and the Mochatini.

Pop in and say hi if you are not already familiar with these two! Now on to the cookie recipe:

Watermelon Margarita Cookies
adapted from Sophisticated Cookie (makes about 3 dz cookies)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp of baking powder
3/4 cup of powdered sugar
2 tbs of grated lime zest
2 tbs of triple sec
1/4 cup of tequila
4 tbs fresh lime juice
1/4 cup of light corn syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 egg
3 cups of fresh, packed, coarsely chopped, seedless watermelon
red food coloring (optional)
3/4 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Fill a sauce pan with the watermelon, corn syrup, tequila and 2 tbs of lime juice.  Place over medium high heat and cook for about 35 minutes, stirring every now and then.  Then cook for 10 minutes more, stirring constantly.  Mixture should reduce to a very thick sauce, about 1/2 cup.  Remove from heat and let cool.

As this is cooling, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Once the watermelon mixture has cooled, the consistency will need to be evaluated.  If it has cooked down to a sauce, then it is fine.  If not, then puree the mixture in a food processor.  This variance probably is due to how ripe your watermelon is.

Add the watermelon mixture, triple sec, 2 tbs of the lime juice,lime zest and egg to the butter/sugar blend. Beat until all is blended and smooth.  Set aside. In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.  Fold the sifted ingredients into the batter until no more dry streaks remain.  If using food coloring, add it to the batter and blend until desired color is reached. Then fold in the chocolate chips.  

Then lay a piece of plastic wrap horizontally on a flat surface.  Wrap should be about 1 foot in length.  Spoon half of the batter on one end of the plastic wrap.  The dough should be placed as a vertical log leaving a 1- 1/2 inch border of plastic beyond the top and bottom of the log as well as a 2 inch border on one side.  Curl the 2 inch border over the dough and continue to roll, letting the rest of the plastic wrap around the log until there is no more length.  Shape it into an even log and then fold the ends over the dough.  Prepare the second half of the batter in the same manner.
Place both logs on a cookie sheet and freeze for 2 hours or until firm.

While the dough is chilling, prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.  In the last 15 minutes of the freezing time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After proper chilling time, remove one of the logs from the freezer and uncover from the plastic wrap.  Slice log vertically into 18 pieces, each should be approximately 1/2 an inch thick.  Then using damp hands, place each piece 2 inches apart on baking sheet (I ended up with 6 cookies to a sheet) and flatten dough to 1/4 inch thick.  Put the other dough slices in the fridge until you are ready to bake. Place pan in oven and bake about 12-15 minutes or until bottom and edges of cookies start to brown.   Mine took about 13 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on pan before removing.

Continue this process with the rest of the dough slices as well as the second frozen log. Note that the second frozen log slices may need to warm up a few minutes before you flatten them or they may crack. Since the dough has remained in the freezer for longer than two hours, it may be too stiff to flatten right away.

Non Alcoholic version: just omit the triple sec and add 1/4 cup of water instead of tequila.  
                    LAST YEAR:Ice Cream-Chocolate or Chocolate Malt?

Cypress Egg Cookies

I was looking at all the celebrations that people do for Easter Sunday.  The main thing is was the Easter Egg hunt with the kids.  I found that the largest Easter egg hunt was conducted in 2007 at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven FL.  In attendance were nearly 10,000 kids on the hunt for about half a million eggs.  I am thinking of how crazy it would have been, but no doubt both the kids and parents have a wonderful memory of the event!

Now on to these cookies.  The cookies are a blend of ground almonds and almond paste.  The paste gives them a crispy edge but they are chewy inside.  This makes them a great palette for the filling which is a blend of melted Mounds Bars, coconut vodka and chocolate.

The cookies are great on their own, but the rich filling does enhance the overall taste..  They are pretty good size and it only takes one to squelch my craving for the sweet.  This recipe makes 36 sandwiched cookies, but it will vary depending on the size of the cutter and how thick you want the filling to be between the cookies.

Cypress Egg Cookies
by Flourtrader

Ingredients/Cookies
3 cups flour
1/4 cup ground almonds
8 oz almond paste
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
various colored sugars for sprinkling (optional)

Ingredients/Filling
15 mini Mounds candy bars, chopped
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tbs coconut flavored Vodka (if  not you can use 2 tbs heavy cream)

To make the cookies, line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium size bowl, beat together almond paste and sugar for 2 minutes on medium speed.  Place sugar,eggs and extract in with the mixture and beat for another 2 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and ground almonds.  Fold the dry ingredients into the sugar/almond batter until no dry streaks remain.  Separate dough into two rounds.

Roll each piece of dough between 2 pieces of wax paper to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.  Place covered dough on baking sheets and put in freezer to chill for 20 minutes.   During this time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

One the dough has chilled, remove and cut into desired shapes.  My cutter was about 2/12 inches wide by 3 inches in height.  Place the cookies on the parchment lined baking sheets about 1/2 an inch apart. If you opted for the sugar sprinkling, proceed with that process now.

Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake until done.  Edges will be a golden hue.  This should take about 12-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on pan for 1 minute then transfer to rack to finish cooling.  Continue with the process until all the dough has been baked.

Set up the double boiler, filling bottom cavity with water to start on the filling.  Fill the top cavity of the pan with the filling ingredients listed above.  Let the mixture cook down until the chocolate is melted and smooth with thin strands of coconut.  Remove from heat and let cool for 20 minutes.

With a knife, smooth about about 2 tsp of filling on the underside of a cookie leaving a little outer edge border. Then press another cookie over the top (underside goes on top of filling), forming a sandwich. Press down slightly to seal together.   Continue with this process until all cookies are sandwiched together.  Cookies can be served at room temperature or refrigerated.
                            **LAST YEAR: Pretzel Dogs** 

Brownie Chunk Cookies

Well the last few days have been very hectic. The recipes that I chose to do for donation each had 2 components.  One you had to bake first to include in the batter later. This particular cookie is basically a chocolate chip cookie batter with big chunks of fudgy brownies and walnuts.  The brownies, after baking, have to be refrigerated overnight before they are used in the batter.

I really liked the cookies, especially because of the fudgey brownies.  I thought it was a nice change of pace from the standard chocolate chip cookies.  I am glad that I have some brownie chunks left over so I can make some more soon.  Due to the amount slated for donation, there was only one for me to taste and it has left me wanting more.

The recipe makes about 20-24 large cookies.  The brownie recipe is actually double the amount you need for the batter,  I just made up the cookie batter twice to take care of the extra brownie ingredient. The recipe below reflects the original amounts.

Also, I have received some more sweet accolades in the form of awards, but I have decided to just cover two in this post and the rest I will do later.

The Versatile Blogger Award was given to me by:

Emily-at Life On Food: this particular blogger is a well seasoned photographer and cook!  Having been in the blogosphere since 2009, her wonderful easy going personality jumps off the page.  Her blog name is really fitting. With recipes, restaurant reviews and what I ate Wednesdays, Emily shares her day of food with you with a sprinkling of her travels and outdoor adventures.  A few gems I found on her blog were: "Please meet the Mexican pizza" and "chocolate love".

Peter-at Chef Peters Kitchen : This blogger is fairly new to the scene having started his blog in December of 2011 and has just popped up on Foodbuzz this month.  With a taste for the spicy, Peter comments that he is still learning.  However, I do think we can learn a thing or two about food preparation on his site.  I particularly liked the Jacked up Turkey Burgers  as well as New York Deli Rye.

If you do not know these two yet, pop on over and introduce yourself, your stomach will be glad you did!  Thanks again you two for passing this award on to me! Now on to the recipe.

Brownie Chunk Cookies
adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients/ Brownies
(only half needed for cookie batter recipe below)
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups of sugar 
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour

Prepare a 9X13 inch pan by lining with foil and leaving two sides overhanging to use as handles to later lift out the brownies.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, sift together the salt and flour.  Set aside.  Place a saucepan over low heat.  Fill with butter and chocolate, stirring until all is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes.

Stir in sugar and vanilla extract until completely blended. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.  Blend in the eggs completely and then fold in sifted ingredients.  Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.

Place in oven and bake until tester indicates moist crumbs.  Recipe states it should take 20 minutes, however mine took about 28 minutes.  Remove pan and let cool completely.  Then cover and place in refrigerator overnight to chill.

Ingredients/Cookie Batter
1/2 recipe for chilled brownies (above), cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts in 1/2 inch pieces
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together baking soda, salt and flour.  Set aside.  Then cream together the butter and both types of sugars until fluffy.  Then beat in eggs, one at a time until incorporated into sugar mixture.  Then stir in vanilla extract.

Fold in sifted ingredients until no dry streaks remain. Then stir in the walnuts and lastly fold in the brownie chunks.

Using a 1/4 or 1/3 cup or scoop,  drop batter onto baking sheet.  Each should be spaced about 2 inches apart.  Also, if the batter is sticking to the scoop, use some non-stick spray in the process.  Using damp fingers, lightly press down the top of the batter so each dollup is about 1 inch thick.  Do not press too much or you will smash the chunks and your cookie will be very flat after baking.
You want these to have some height to them and have big brownie chunks.

Bake until cookie edges turn golden about 15-20 minutes.  Let cool completely on baking sheets and then enjoy!
              **LAST YEAR: Pom Guava Mini Cheesecakes**
  

Stoutly Gingerbread Cookies

These cookies have two very special components that make perfect for St Patrick's.  First is the cake part which is made with Guinness, molasses and spices.  The second is the decorated part in which the idea comes from the brain of Darla at Bakingdom.com.

This is my first time at using fondant, so I still do need some more practice.  I was hoping that I could use disco dust on the border of the fondant, but I ran out of room.  Hopefully with more practice I will be at ease and be able to make my cookies more eye catching in the future.

Regarding the taste of the cookies, they are great without any topping.  Not so pretty, but very tasty.  I did leave a few dozen plain to enjoy with coffee or tea. The dough is a good base and can be personalized to your own tastes (ie sandwich cookies, drizzled with chocolate, etc)

In the listing below, I have included the original recipe along with the Bailey's glaze recipe.  Also, you will find the link to Darla's specific post which is an excellent tutorial on how to use regular rubber stamps and fondant to make some festive looking cookies.

This particular recipe does yield quite a number of cookies, depending how big or small you want to make them.  It was published with the thought that gingerbread men would be made, so it states that it makes 20 six inch cookies. Also, using the Guinness requires you to start the night before on making these.

Stoutly Gingerbread Cookies
adapted from The Sophisticated Cookie

Ingredients/Cookies
5 cups flour
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tbs ground cinnamon
1 tbs ground ginger
1/4 cup of Guinness Stout
1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
1 egg
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

 Put Guinness in a small bowl and cover with a paper towel.  Let sit overnight in a cool place.

The next morning, sift together the flour, baking powder and all 4 spices and set aside.  In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Then take the bowl of Guiness and stir in the molasses.  Once blended, add it to the butter/sugar mixture and beat for 30 seconds.  Then beat in the egg until everything is blended.

Beat 1/3 of the sifted mixture into the batter.  Add another 1/3 and beat until no dry streaks remain.  Then knead in the last 1/3 of the sifted ingredients until all is blended.  Cover and chill for one hour.

While chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Once chill time is complete, take and roll out dough on a lightly floured surface.  Dough should be rolled to an 1/8 inch thickness.  Cut out dough with the cookie cutters of your choice.  I used a square biscuit cutter.  Transfer cut outs to cookie sheet, spacing about one inch apart.  Place in oven and bake until done.  Baking time is about 12-15 minutes.  Cookies are done when they are firm to the touch.  Let cool before icing or frosting.

Ingredients/Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tbs Baileys Irish Cream

Place irish cream in a bowl and sift powdered sugar into the bowl.  Mix until no dry streaks remain. Then lightly ice cookies with the glaze.

Decorated Stamp Fondant
The things I found out when trying to complete the process:
-The cookie is thin, so the fondant needs to be thin.
-the less handling of the fondant the less risk of fingerprints and tearing.
-I used a bench scraper to move the fondant squares
-the less detailed the stamp the better
-finding that "perfect" size as well as less detail of a stamp is not very easy
So without further delay, here is the link to Darla's tutorial: Stamped Halloween Cookies
                   
                               **LAST YEAR: Honey Almond Cakes**

Virginia Matties

Since these cookies are not exactly the traditional Madeleine cookies, I did not to call them that.  The flavor of these cookies are peanut butter and chocolate, I did some research and found out that the first peanut farm in the US was in Virginia, so I named them accordingly.

When I set out to do these, I wanted a cookie that really had some pop of peanut flavor.  With all the different flours out there, I could not resist in trying the peanut flour.  I have used nut flours before with wonderful results.

The peanut flour really did the trick.  I made these with regular flour and peanut to compare.  I have to say that I would not make these without the peanut flour.  It adds such a depth of flavor to these, it was well worth seeking out and finding this unique ingredient.

Virginia Matties
by flourtrader

Special Equipment
2 madeleine pans, 12 cavities each

Ingredients
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs creamy peanut butter
6 tbs butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
6-8 oz of bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease pan cavities with melted butter.

Sift together flour and salt, set aside.  In a separate bowl, whip eggs for about 1 minute or until frothy.  Add the sugar and whip for 5 minutes.  Mixture should become pale and thick.

Place a saucepan over medium heat and melt butter.  Add the peanut butter and extract, mixing until smooth.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the whipped eggs and stir until blended.  Continue with this process for 2 more intervals until all the flour is mixed in.  Then pour in the peanut butter and stir until smooth.

Fill each cavity 3/4 full with the batter and smooth the top.  After all 24 cavities are filled place each pan on top of a cookie sheet.  Put in oven to bake for 7 minutes.  Then rotate pans from top to bottom and back to front.  Bake for an additional 6-7 minutes.  Tops will spring back when lightly touched.

Remove and invert onto rack to finish cooling. 

Once the cookies have cooled, set up a double boiler and melt chocolate.  Dip the cookies or drizzle chocolate on top. Place on wax paper.  Let cookies set for about 2 hours for the chocolate to harden and then they are ready to eat.

Tips:
Only make enough batter for pans you can fill and bake at one time.  Due to the melted butter in the batter, leaving it sit and letting it cool will cause it to seize.

If you have a non-stick pan, lightly spray with cooking spray.  Over doing it will make for a greasy cookie.

Make sure your batter is smoothed out in the cavities.  Uneven batter will produce cookies that do not lay flat.
                       **LAST YEAR: Cheddar Soda Bread**     

Chocolate Phantoms

These cookies are definitely on the rich dark side of chocolate.  I bought some specialty chocolate that was 70% cocoa and used it in this recipe, so these are very intense.    This recipe has its good and its bad, however there is no mistaking the great chocolatey taste.  I would say that these are as close as you are going to get to actual fudge in the form of a cookie.

The down side of these is that they only last for a few days.  Also, since the batter is made with very little butter, it sets up very fast and gets hard to deal with near the end of the baking session.  It actually turns into a hard fudge consistency. The recipe states to use a heaping teaspoon for the dough, yet the macadamias are left whole in the batter which makes that size difficult.  Chopping the nuts into quarters would make things easier. The up side is that due to their richness, they go a long way.  Also, they are less difficult to make than fudge.  This recipe makes about 5 dz  ( 1 1/2 inch) cookies.

As a side note, Easy Foodsmith has been kind enough to pass the "blog on Fire Award" to me.  If you are wondering about this blog, let me fill you in on a typical dinner at her place: pom limeade, saffron chicken tikka, chickpea salad with pomegranate and twisted potato bread.  Lastly, a slice of chocolate banana zebra cake for dessert!  While you probably cannot eat there, you sure can find some great recipes to prepare and enjoy at your house.  So stop in and visit Easy Foodsmith .

Chocolate Phantoms
adapted from Rose's Christmas Cookies

Ingredients
8 oz of bittersweet or semisweet chocolate bars
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate bars, chopped
1 1/2 cups unsalted macadamia nuts
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs unsalted butter
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tbs flour
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees,  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.  Set aside. Prepare a double boiler with water and place over medium heat.  Fill the top section with the chocolate bar pieces and the butter.  Stir until both the butter and chocolate are melted and blended.  Remove the bowl from the heat.

Fill another bowl with the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract.  Beat for about 15 seconds until it is a creamy consistency.  Slowly pour the melted chocolate into the batter and beat.  Once all the ingredients are well blended, fold in the sifted ingredients.  Lastly, stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop batter by heaping teaspoons onto baking sheet measuring about 1 inch wide.  Also, they should be and mounded as high as possible and placed about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Place in oven and bake for 6 minutes.  Rotate pans (top to bottom, front to back) and bake for an additional 3-4 minutes.

They will come out of the oven very soft and have to cool completely on the pans.  Remove from pans and serve.
                        **LAST YEAR: Inside Out Burgers**

Citrus Tri Stars

Well I definitely broke the rules on this one.  I recently got a cookie press and the directions said "not recommended for refrigerated dough".   I sat there wondering why.  Now, I can understand that if you took too long with refrigerated dough, it would become difficult to work with.  However, most of the time when I use this type of dough, I form the dough on one cookie sheet and then place the bowl back in the fridge while the one pan was cooking. So after deliberating on that, I disregarded the warning and forged ahead.

My main thoughts about making the dough is that it had to be stiffer than drop cookie dough and had to bake up with some height, unlike cut out dough. In addition, the dough could not spread like leavened cookies, they had to maintain their shape when baked.  Add ins in the dough is possible, but the particles must be small enough to go through the press.  That narrowed it down to three things, cocoa nibs, poppy seeds and milk crumbs.

I tried some of the batter with cocoa nibs and some with poppy seeds. The poppy seeds were smaller so they distributed better in the dough than the cocoa nibs.  Taste wise, I liked both of them. As far as the milk crumbs (see recipe here), it was an after thought. These cookies taste better the next day, for the lemon flavor develops more with time. This recipe makes about 5 dozen.

Citrus Tri Stars
by flourtrader

Ingredients
1 tbs lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice*
2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tbs poppy seeds


Sift together the flour and the salt and set aside.  In a separate bowl, beat together shortening, sugar, eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice.   The fold in sifted ingredients  Lastly, fold in poppy seeds until evenly distributed.  Cover dough and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

After chilling the dough, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease two baking sheets.  Remove dough and fill cookie press according to instructions.  Cover remaining dough and place back in fridge.  Press cookie dough out onto greased cookie sheets according to manufacturers instructions.

Place cookie sheet in oven and bake for 9-12 minutes or until lightly golden on bottom and edges.  Remove and let cool for 1 minute and then transfer cookies to cooling rack.  Repeat process, greasing cookie sheets after baking each batch.

*02/26/12  a taste tester has stated that there is not enough zip of lemon flavor in this cookie, so feel free to add lemon extract in place of the juice for a stronger lemon flavor.


                                 **LAST YEAR:Brandy Alexander Pie**

 

Auntie Mary's Cookies & A Feature

You probably have two thoughts running through your head.  One, you are wondering if the above is one cookie or three.  It is actually three.  The other is who is Auntie Mary?  Not any relation, just the originator of this recipe.  Apparently, she is a relative of someone associated with the Ladies Home Journal.

Do not let this picture fool you though.  These cookies do not have jam in them-they actually have a fudge-like filling with walnuts.  The best part about them is that the elements are equal.  This means that one bite gives you 50% cookie flavor and 50% nutty chocolate flavor.  In my book this does make the grade, so these will be added to my traditional cookies list. This recipe makes about 4 dozen. 

Also, I wanted to mention that Sofie from The German Foodie contacted me in regards to doing a feature on me and I agreed.  She is doing a series on why she follows certain blogs and picked mine to feature first, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside since there are so many wonderful blogs to choose from.  So if you are curious about the feature or if you would like to meet a special blogger who has some great tutorials on her site as well as some tasty German cuisine, be sure and pop on over to Sofie's site at The German Foodie,


Auntie Mary's Cookies
adapted from Ladies Home Journal

Ingredients/Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups flour
powdered sugar, for sprinkling

Ingredients/Filling
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

To make the dough, sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  In another bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese and both type of sugars.  Then beat in the egg and vanilla extract until blended evenly.  Fold in the dry ingredients, making sure no dry streaks remain.

Separate dough into four equal parts and wrap with plastic wrap.  Place in fridge for a minimum of  2 hours.  I left mine in the fridge to chill overnight.

After the chilling time is complete, preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two cookie sheets.

Then you are ready to make your filling!  Place chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan placed over medium heat.  Stir and cook until all chocolate chips are melted and mixture is smooth.  Remove from heat and stir in the walnuts.  Let cool to room temperature.

Lightly dust a flat surface with flour and place 1 piece of dough in the center.  Roll dough out to a 6 X 10 inch rectangle, lifting and turning to make sure dough does not stick.  Once you reach that size, take 1/4 of the chocolate mixture and smooth it down the center of the length of the dough.  Then fold sides over.  Then transfer to cookie sheet, seam side down.  I used a spatula and a bench scraper side by side underneath to transfer the log and then flipped it over.  Repeat this process with the remaining 3 logs.  You should have two  on each cookie sheet.

Place in oven and bake 20-25 minutes or until the dough is lightly browned.  Remove pans and transfer logs to a cooling rack.  Once completely cool, sprinkle with confectioners sugar.  Then slice each log into 12 equal portions. 
             **LAST YEAR: Roasted Cauliflower and Onions**

Celebrity Factor Cookies

There are actually two main factors that celebrities have to deal with when it comes to the public.  One is all the people that adore or love them.  The other is the people that want to be them.  These cookies are about those two factors.  They have cranberries for the love and pistachios for the green with envy!

Yes, today I have taken a trip away from chocolate to bring you something a little bit different.  As I explained before, I am not a big fan of raisins, but if it is to be dried fruit give me cranberries, pineapple or dates!  Cranberries was also chosen since we are on the eve of Valentine's.

Outside of the two factors, this cakey cookie offers hints of cinnamon and orange. The end result is one tasty cookie.  Delicious with a healthy slant.  I said no to thoughts of drizzling with white chocolate.  So here you have it, healthy bits in this cookie and no chocolate.  This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Celebrity Factor Cookies
by flourtrader

Ingredients
1/3 cup plus 2 tbs orange juice
1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temp
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp grated orange peel
3/4 cup chopped unsalted pistachios
2 cups dried sweetened cranberries
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

Prepare cranberries by soaking in orange juice for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  Also, butter 3 cookie sheets.

Sift together salt, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder in a medium size bowl.  Set aside. In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.  Add egg, orange zest and vanilla extract to the butter sugar mixture.  Beat for about 2 minutes until all is blended and evenly distributed.

Fold in the sifted ingredients with a wooden spoon.  Once there are no dry streaks remaining, stir in the cranberries as well as the orange juice that they soaked in.  Lastly, add the pistachios and mix until evenly distributed.

Then cover and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.  My butter was real soft, so I let the cookie batter cool for about 30 minutes to firm up.  While the batter is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove batter from fridge.  Using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop batter by rounded teaspoon onto cookie sheet.  Cookies should be spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Place cookies in oven and bake until outside edges have turned golden, about 10-15 minutes.  Mine took about 12 minutes.  Remove cookie sheet and let cookies cool on sheet about 5 minutes.  Then transfer to rack to finish cooling.