Earl Grey Shortbread

The holidays are a stressful time, and when I get stressed, I bake. I'm also on a special diet because of some tummy trouble that landed me in the hospital for the last few days, so I decided to make something pretty simple.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar (or powdered sugar for a more satiny cookie)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp loose tea leaves
2 cups flour
Instructions:
Cream butter, sugar, and salt
Add vanilla and tea leaves
Gradually add flour until dough comes together
Shape into a log 2-3 inches across (I like to shape mine into squares)
Chill from 30 min to overnight
Slice abt 1/4 inch thick
Bake at 375 for 9-12 min until edges are browned

A Tale of Two Cookies

I own and love the baking book from Rosies, a local bakery that makes (among other things) the best brownies in existence. I originally had a craving for a Peanut Butter cookie with chocolate chips. I started with her basic recipe

Ingredients
1 stick butter, room temp
1/2 cup + 1tsp white sugar
1/2 cup + 1 tsp brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups + 2tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda

Instructions
combine dry ingredients
Cream butter and sugar
Add egg, vanilla and peanut butter
Gradually add dry ingredients
Chill dough for a few hrs
Bake at 350 for 8-10 min

Alterations
For the peanut butter cookies, I only did a half cup of each sugar, and added a tablespoon of honey (peanut butter and honey sandwiches are a favorite treat of mine). I also added peanut butter anc chocolate chips and an extra 1/4 tsp salt to balance the honey.  Also, to chill the cookies I rolled them into tubes, wrapped them in cling wrap and threw them in the freezer for an hour. Then when you want cookies, preheat the oven, slice and bake

These cookies led to another idea: nutella cookies. I replaced the peanutbutter with nutella, only added 1/2 cup of each sugar, and upped the salt ( I did a whole teaspoon, next time I would do 3/4). I also added an additional 1/2 tsp of hazlenut extract because we had it on hand, a half cup chopped hazlenuts and a cup of white chocolate chips. I am pleased with the result.

http://www.rosiesbakery.com/rosies-bakery-cookbook/

Blueberry Cornmeal Cookies

For some reason, I really like cornmeal and blueberries together. I had some blueberries from the CSA farmshare leftover, so at first i thought i would make Blueberry Cornmeal pancakes or muffins, but then I found this recipe on the Five Star Foodie blog. I made a couple of changes and doubled the recipe. They came out pretty tasty!

Ingredients
1 cup blueberries
1/12 cup cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup flour
pinch salt
1/2 cup softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp almond or hazlenut extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350
• combine cornmeal, baking powder, flour and salt
• cream butter and sugar
• add eggs, extract and zest
• slowly combine dry into wet
• by hand stir in blueberries
• bake 1 tbsp drops in 350 oven for 12-14 min or until edges start to brown

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every once in a while I get bit by the bug to make something specific. In this case it was peanut butter cookies with chocolate. I was gonna make peanut butter blossoms (where you put a Hershey's Kiss in the middle), but I got lazy and decided to just use chocolate chips. Then I decided to add some peanut butter chips for good measure. I've also been hooked on adding oatmeal to cookies for the texture. I found this recipe on Baking Bites

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (I buy unsalted peanut butter so I added 1/2 tsp)

1 cup quick cook oats

1 cup flour (I used 1/2 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat)

optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350

cream butter and sugars together

add vanilla and egg

add peanut butter

add flour,oats, baking soda, and salt in batches just until combined

quickly stir in chips

roll dough into 1 inch balls and bake for 11-14 min

made 3 dozen (probably makes 4 doz, I tend to be generous in my rolling)

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, a photo by kel h on Flickr.

These cookies are fantastic. They are crispy and chewy at the same time. I added the cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest. You may want to up the salt a smidge if you use the zest. Also, I love the texture that oatmeal adds

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from The Frog Commissary Cookbook)
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
zest from 1 small orange
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups oats (rolled or "quick," but not "instant")
2 cups chocolate chips (about 12-oz.)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars until mixture is light in color. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the milk and the vanilla extract.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest. Either by hand or with the mixer on low speed, gradually beat the flour in to the sugar mixture until just incorporated.
Stir in the oats and chocolate chips by hand.
Drop 1-inch balls of dough onto the cookie sheet, placing about 1 1/2 inches apart so they have room to spread.
Bake at 350F for 10-13 minutes, until golden brown at the edges and light golden at the center.
Cool on baking sheet for at least 1-2 minutes before transfering to a wire rack to cool completely

Vanilla Shortbread with Cocoa Nibs

I've had this in my mind for a while. Vanilla shortbread cookies studded with cocoa nibs. Mostly inspired by Taza Chocolate, which is a local chocolate factory here in Somerville, MA that makes a variety of flavors of chocolate in a traditional mexican style using organic and ethically sourced ingredients. You can order from them online, and they also have a factory store that does tours (but no ooompa loompas).

Also, I'm sort of obsessed with vanilla beans now.

So I went to The Joy of Baking site and adapted their shortbread cookie recipe by adding half a cup of chocolate covered cocoa nibs and using the seeds from 1 vanilla bean instead of a teaspoon of vanilla.

Shortbread Cookies:

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt

1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (60 grams) powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar

seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Instructions

Shortbreads: In a separate bowl whisk the flour with the salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until smooth (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the dough for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with the rack in the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a 1/4 inch (.6 cm) thick circle. Cut into rounds or other shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter. Place on the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. (This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked.) Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until cookies are very lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

to decorate them, I melted some semisweet chocolate and put it in a ziploc baggie. Then I snipped the corner and used it to pipe some shapes.

Daring Bakers' September 2010 Challenge: Decorated Sugar Cookies

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

This was a good challenge for me to start with, because it was pretty straightforward. I've made sugar cookies before (usually for Christmas), but this batch turned out a lot better thanks to the tips I got from the challenge. I'm usually too lazy or rushed to chill the dough after I cut out the cookies, but it really did make a difference (you can see the shapes SO much better this way). Also, while I could have probably used a smidge more sugar in my icing, it definitely worked better than my usual gloppy mess, and I was able to do the flooding technique AND the swirly bits. I also used this as a chance to try cooking with a vanilla bean pod, which I've never done before. I like the flavor of it, and I

am using the used pod to make vanilla sugar (I got the idea from Ina Garten. You take the used pods and put them in a container with white sugar and shake it a bit and let it sit. The longer it goes the more vanilla-y it gets)

I will say that, if I'm really going to get serious about baking, I should probably get a scale, as most really good recipes use weights instead of cups.

Sugar Cookies

1 stick + 6 tbsp butter (room temp)

3 cups + 3 tbsp flour

1 cup sugar

1 lg egg (lightly beaten)

1 tsp vanilla extract OR seeds from 1 vanilla bean pod

cream the butter, sugar, and flavorings together (don't overmix. It will add air to the dough which will cause your cookies to spread when baking. See? helpful hints)

Beat in egg til combined

Add sifted flour and mix until dry dough forms.

Roll out dough into small 1/4 inch thick sheets and chill for at least 30 minutes (you want to chill the dough before you cut the shapes, and it's easier to roll it out now while it's soft and THEN chill it. I stacked mine between sheets of tin foil in the freezer for 15 minutes as a cheat, but it worked)

after your dough is chilled, cut out the shapes and chill again for 30 min

Bake at 350 for 8-12 min, until just starting to brown around edges. It helps to have cookies of all the same size on one sheet because the smaller cookies will bake first.

Royal Icing

3 cups powdered sugar

2 lg egg whites

2 tsp lemon juice (approx juice from 1/2 med lemon)

1 tsp almond extract (optional, but i used it)

mix the egg whites, sugar, and flavoring (you are not making them frothy, just mixing them)

add powdered sugar and combine

you want to keep this in airtight containers because it thickens up quickly.

Since the theme of the challenge was Fall, I got some owl, pumpkin/apple, and leaf shapes.

I had my roommate G, and my friends Krysta and Lee help me with the decorating.

To flood a cookie you outline it with the royal icing and then pipe some more inside the outline and use a toothpick or knifes edge to spread it out evenly.

You can make a cool spider web pattern by flooding an area, then imediately piping a spiral of a contrasting color on top. then drag a knife tip or toothpick from the center of the spiral out several times.

Lee's Cookies

Krysta's Cookies

Geoffrey's Cookies

Lemon Rosemary Sugar Cookies

Lemon Rosemary Sugar Cookies
Originally uploaded by kel h

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg yolk, beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. minced fresh rosemary
1 3/4 tsp. grated lemon rind

preheat oven to 350

Combine flour and butter in a bowl, cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add sugar mixing well. Add egg yolk, vanilla, rosemary and lemon rind. Blend well.
Roll dough into a log about 2 inches, wrap in plastic wrap and put into the freezer to chill. Cut dough into 1/8 inch slices onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 min. makes about 3 doz

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with craisins and pecans

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with craisins and pecans
Originally uploaded by kel h

so, when I'm stressed...I bake. And it's been a rough couple of weeks (minus the awesome birthday party that was awesome). Today I had chocolate chip craisin cookies at a training, and decided i wanted to take them up a notch.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
zest of 1/2 orange
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 c quick oats uncooked
1 c chocolate chips
1/2 c craisins
1/2 c chopped pecans

Directions
preheat oven to 350
Cream butter and sugar together
stir in eggs and vanilla
add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and orange zest. Mix well
stir in oats, craisins and chocolate chips
drop rounded tbsp on to cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 min (til golden brown)