Iced Oatmeal Cookies

It's been a while, yes.  I've needed to take a break, if you want to know what's been going on you are welcome to go here :)  But I'm back and with a swingin recipe.  Let's get started.

The name "Iced Oatmeal Cookies" just doesn't seem......"enough" for these spectacular little gems.  How about, "The Best Darn Oatmeal Cookie You'll Ever Put in Your Mouth" or my personal favorite the "I will make you completely lose self control cookie because I am THAT good".  You think I am getting carried away, don't you?  Well I think you need to make these heavenly cookies so you can experience the deliciousness yourself.

As amazing as these cookies were, I would make a slight change.  The recipe calls for 1 tsp nutmeg-I will only use 1/2 tsp next time.  I would have preferred them to have a slight less nutmeggy flavor.  But if you like more of a nutmeg flavor in your oatmeal cookie-go ahead and throw the whole teaspoon in!

These cookies are soft, perfect, absolutely the best oatmeal cookie I have made...should I go so far as to say tasted??  They are pretty amazing.  If you live in Utah and have ever had one of The Sweet Tooth Fairies oatmeal cookie (which is one of the best darn things on this planet!) these are very similar to theirs.

I better wrap this up because I have my 50th oatmeal cookie I need to eat for the day.

recipe originally found here

Ingredients (4-5 dozen) For the Cookie:

1 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp baking soda 1 Tbsp baking powder 2 cup quick oats 2 cup flour For the Icing: 2 cup powdered sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

In food processor, add oatmeal and pulse until partly ground. Don’t make into a fine powder, leave some chunks. I pulsed mine 6 times, at 1-2 seconds each. Set aside.

In mixing bowl, blend together butter with sugars. Mix 1-2 minutes until combined. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in remaining cookie ingredients and blend until thoroughly combined.

Drop by several tablespoons onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 14-16 minutes. (if you like your cookies soft like me, 13.5 minutes was perfect for my oven!)

To make glaze, whisk together powdered sugar with heavy cream and cinnamon until smooth. Frost each cookie and allow to harden. You can put them in refrigerator to speed up process (about 30 minutes).

Enjoy!

New Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe-Seriously

So I guess yesterday was National Chocolate Chip Day-without even knowing this I got the urge to make some chocolate chip cookies. It must have been some sort of inspiration:) I wanted to try a new recipe though. I've had some coconut oil for a while and haven't used much of it yet, so I searched for chocolate chip cookies made with coconut oil. I found a winner! Seriously, these cookies turned out so yummy I really think they will be my go to chocolate chip cookie from now on. Now, for those of you who know me you know how big of a deal that is because I swear by my cookie recipe and am very faithful to it. I like how easy these cookies are to make, and I also love that they are made with a good fat-coconut oil. I've always hated that the chocolate chip cookie recipe I use calls for shortening. I always try not to use any shortening in my baking. So now I think I have a win win-a cookie recipe that's just as good as my old recipe and is better for you!

The coconut oil I used was Nutiva extra virgin organic. It has a mild coconut flavor which I LOVED for these cookies. Some coconut oil has no flavor which is what I like to use for sauteing, but this coconut oil is great for baking if you like a little coconut flavor. If you want to learn about the health benefits of coconut oil go here. The texture of these cookies were soft, chewy, and gooey. The key I found is to take them out when they look pretty under done. They harden up pretty quickly. I got three batches of 6 larger cookies and the batch that turned out the best was the one where I baked it for 9 1/2 minutes. But everyone's oven is different so you may need to find out what works best for you:)
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Cheeky Kitchen

1/2 cup coconut oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
8 ounces mini chocolate chips
8 ounces large chocolate chips

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together coconut oil, eggs, and brown sugar until very well mixed. Add remaining ingredients, mixing together until all are incorporated. Roll into massive balls (I made my cookies from 3 tablespoons of dough. That’s just how I roll.) and place 6 on a cookie sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 9-11 minutes, or just until the outside of the cookies have browned ever so slightly around the edges. Remove, cool slightly, devour.

One of My New Favorite Things...

So I've been on a little baking hiatus, I think it's having a 7 month old who still isn't sleeping through the night, so it makes things like baking sound exhausting and impossible. But finally the other day I baked! I made two things, one was a failure and one was a giant success! The failure, well, I will make it again and post when it's a success so let's not even go there. But my success, well let's talk about it:)

My past few posts have been of sugar cookies. I've been tying out a few different recipes trying to get just the right one. However, all of them have been good in their own delicious and different way. I found a recipe for cream cheese sugar cookies which had 8 oz of cream cheese in the batter-in the words of Ina, "How bad can that be?!" Well it wasn't bad at all, in fact, it was absolutely delicious, so delicious that I think it will be my new go to recipe. The recipe calls for baking powder but the cookies still held their shape pretty well. Now here's a few twists I added to the recipe...

The recipe calls for a teaspoon of almond extract. I've had for a while a bakery emulsion called "Princess Cake and Cookie". It adds a light citrus, buttery, nutty taste. It's delicious. So I added a teaspoon of that instead of the almond and I made a cream cheese frosting. I will add the frosting recipe below-it turned out really good! I made these for a get together with the girls on my mom's side, I had a cousin tell me they were the best sugar cookies she's had. They are pretty dang good. They would be great cookies to leave out for Santa or to take to a cookie swap!

Cream Cheese Cookie Cut-outs
from Karen's Cookies

• 1 cup butter
• 1 8-oz package cream cheese
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. almond extract
• 3 ½ cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder

Beat butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and almond extract; beat well. In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to cream cheese mixture; beat until well mixed. Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours.

Preheat oven to 375°. Roll dough to ¼ inch thickness. Into desired shapes and place on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. (very large cookies may take longer to bake)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese
4-5 cups of powdered sugar
pinch of salt
vanilla bean paste
couple tablespoons heavy cream

Blend cream cheese, salt, and butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar to desired consitency. Add vanilla bean paste (or just vanilla). After everything is all creamy and yummy add a little bit of heavy cream. Don't whip it, just mix it in on low speed until mixed in well.

Trick or Treat?! Is that really even a question!?

I mean seriously, during Halloween, when treats are flowing abundantly I think the "Trick" part of that phrase is meaningless:) And have I got a "Treat" for you! After making these sugar cookies for last month's Daring Baker's Challenge, I've been in the mood to make some more sugar cookies, but wanted to try a different recipe. I stumbled across the site Karen's Cookies, it's a great site to look at if you want to see cookie decorating tutorials and is also a great site for different cookie recipes. I decided to try her Basic Rolled Sugar Cookies, the recipe had butter, sugar, almond flavoring, and an extra egg yolk, how could that be bad? It was absolutely delicious. The only thing is, it's not the BEST recipe that holds the shape of the cookie cutter. This recipe is much better for that. But it's still ok, it holds the shape pretty good but not perfectly. These cookies will turn out to be a softer sugar cookie, which I like.

Now for the frosting. I love the look of cookies decorated with royal icing, but I love the taste of buttercream. I found on Karen's Cookies a recipe for Meringue Powder Buttercream, it's supposed to harden on the top of the cookie so you can still stack them if needed, but have less of a crunch than royal icing. Here's my review of this buttecream: I felt it didn't harden much more than a regular buttercream, but it tasted great. I'm kind of torn as to whether or not I will make it again, I don't see the point with going to the trouble making it when I could just make a simple buttercream. But we will see-maybe I will make it again and like it better the second time around.

Now as for the look of these cookies-don't judge me:) I only had peach food coloring as opposed to a bright vibrant orange, so these cookies weren't' the most appealing Ive ever made, but they certainty tasted great. And with a fussy almost 6 month old begging for my attention, I did the best I could at making them cute :) So if you are going to a fun Halloween Party this week these would be great cookies to take!

Basic Rolled Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup superfine sugar, or granulated sugar, processed in blender or food processor for 30 seconds
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tsp. Vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. Almond extract or emulsion, optional (I added 3/4 tsp. almond emulsion)
  
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour.

Cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes with mixer set at medium speed . Add yolk, beat well. Add whole egg, vanilla and optional almond extract and beat until well-incorporated. Add flour; beat at low speed just until flour is mixed in; do not overmix. Divide dough in halves or thirds and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least one hour and up to 2 days.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dust work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll dough to 1/4" thick, sprinkling with additional flour as needed to prevent sticking. Cut into desired shapes and place on parchment or silicone-lined pans. Bake in preheated oven until cookies appear dry on the surface and are light golden brown on the edges, about 10 minutes (very large cookies may take up to 12 or 13 minutes). Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks and cool completely before decorating.

Meringue Powder Buttercream

• 1/3 cup water
• 3 T. meringue powder
• ½ cup shortening (I used butter, I am a firm believe the shortening should never be used in a frosting!)
  
• 4 ½ cups powdered sugar (1 lb. 3 oz. If you have a scale)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (use clear vanilla if you want a pure white icing)
• ¼ tsp. almond extract

Place half of the powdered sugar and the meringue powder in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whisk together well. Turn on mixer (use whip attachment) and, while motor is running, slowly stream in the water. Mix until everything is incorporated. Turn mixer to high speed and whip until stiff peaks form. Add flavorings and mix well. Change to paddle attachment (for stand mixer) or dough hook (for Bosch). If using a hand mixer, use the same beaters you were using before. Add remaining powdered sugar and shortening and whip for 2-3 minutes more.

Note: Don't skimp on the whipping time after adding the shortening. You really need to whip it well to prevent separation later.

Daring Bakers: 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.

Hello there! I am so excited for this post! One - because it's a post!! And I have been on a little hiatus with my redesigning of my blog 'n all... And two - because it's a Daring Baker's Challenge!! I haven't completed a challenge in a while because it got really hard to while I was pregnant and even harder after I had Eleni. But I was so excited for this challenge I just had to find a way to complete it. I've had Peggy Porschen's book "Pretty Party Cakes" for a while now, and every now and then I flip through it and marvel at the adorable cakes, cookies, and goodies that are in there. I've always wanted to try her sugar cookies and decorate them all cutesy with royal icing but have always been a little intimidated, and after completing them I don't know what for. Each individual step is very simple, however, they do take some time to complete depending on how serious you are about your decorating. But I definitely suggest giving it a try and let your creative juices flow, it's really fun to see how they turn out!!

To the basic sugar cookie recipe I added a teaspoon of almond extract, they turned out super yummy! And I doubt you will ever find an easier sugar cookie recipe, I mean 5 ingredients?! In the words of Ina Garten "How bad can that be?!" I also used royal icing for the piping on my cookies, and then this icing recipe for the flooding. You can use the royal icing for flooding as well, I just wanted to try both of them out. Next time I will probably do either or because it made extra work on my part making both types of icing. The royal icing gives the cookies a more matte look than this icing, which leaves the cookies looking glossy and perfect.

I hope some of you get a chance to try this out, it was really fun, however my kitchen does look like a bomb went off with royal icing and piping bags everywhere!..not looking forward to cleaning that up :) I will definitely be trying this again.

And please check back tomorrow for an outa this world chocolate cake recipe!!!

A great thing about this recipe is that because there is no
leavening agent, the cookies will come out exactly like
the cookie cutter you use.

Basic Sugar Cookies:
Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
• Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
• Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during
baking, losing their shape.
• Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
• Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoid
flour flying everywhere.
• Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
• Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)
• Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
• Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an
hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and
then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
• Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
• Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.
• Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.
• Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
• Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
• Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
• Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in
some cookies being baked before others are done.
• Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
• Leave to cool on cooling racks.
• Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
• Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated
cookies can last up to a month.

Royal Icing:

315g – 375g / 11oz – 13oz / 2½ - 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
2 Large Egg Whites
10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice
5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Directions

• Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
• Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and
grease free.
• Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
• Tip: I’ve listed 2 amounts of icing sugar, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.
• Beat on low until combined and smooth.
• Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.
• Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

Decorating Your Cookies: Flooding
“Flooding” a cookie is a technique used when covering a cookie with Royal Icing.
1. You outline the area you want to flood which helps create a dam
2. Then fill or flood inside the area you’ve outlined

Decorating Your Cookies: Royal Icing
The most important thing when it comes to decorating with Royal Icing is the consistency.

There are two ways of flooding your cookies. Some like to do the outline with a thicker icing and then flood with a thinner icing. Some like to use the same icing to do both which saves time and you don’t have to have two different piping bags for each colour you’re using.

The Same Consistency Method
Consistency:
• Mix your royal icing according to the recipe/instructions
• Drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing and count to 10
• If the surface becomes smooth between 5 & 10 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency
• Tip: If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, do the 10 second test, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat, etc.
• Tip: To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 10 second test

Two Different Consistencies Method
Consistency:
• Mix your royal icing according to the recipe/instructions.
• Separate into 2 different bowls, one lot of icing for outlining, the other for flooding.
• For the outlining icing, drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing.
• If the surface becomes smooth at around 10 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency.
• Tip: If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, count to 10 seconds, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat, etc.
• Tip: To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 10 second test.
• For the flooding/filling icing, drag a knife through the surface of the Royal Icing.
• If the surface becomes smooth at around 3-4 seconds, the icing is at the correct consistency.
• Tip: If your icing is too thick, thin it by adding a few drops of water. Mix, count to 3-4 seconds, then if it’s still too thick, add a few more drops of water, repeat, etc.
• Tip: To thicken your icing, add small amounts of icing sugar until thick enough for the 3-4 second test.

Listen up people!! I've got a seriously good cookie recipe for ya!

Ok-so I may have already posted this recipe before...but I made them again and this time they are extra good! I mean Extra EXTRA good! They are Kathleen Kings Double Chocolate Almond Cookies (again i left out the almonds-not a huge fan of nuts in my cookies-sometimes they are ok). Wanna know why they were EXTRA good this time?? K I'll tell ya!

For the cocoa powder I used my new dutch process cocoa, Extra Brutte Cocoa Powder. This stuff is awesome. Such a deep, chocolately flavor. It took these cookies to another level. Can't wait to make them again!

they made lovely little gifts too:)

I've also decided I'm going to move away from cupcakes for a while and start making cookies. It was so nice yesterday when I made them to not have to worry about making an icing for them, not have to worry about decorating them...and quit frankly I would rather have one of these cookies than a cupcake. Gasp! I know! Crazy right?

Well tomorrow we are going on our first family vacation with out little one! Guess where we're going...I'll give you a hint...

our first stop will be to visit Lou Malnati's Pizzeria...
then the next day we are going to take a little drive to what I considered my home-where I grew up to get a delicious butter burger from Solly's Grille. This place is the birth place of the butter burger and I haven't had one in almost ten years so it's about time I go back and get me another!

If you haven't guessed, figured it out, or if you haven't gone to my lovely links :) ...You'll just have to wait till I post some pics tomorrow:)

I've posted the recipe for Kathleen cookies on my blog before, so you can look for it under "cookies" or you can go here for the recipe:)

The Ultimate Sugar Cookies

I love Tyler Florence's show "Tyler's Ultimate", and I think if he was doing a show about the ultimate sugar cookies, he would use this recipe. If you are looking for a sugar cookie that bakes up soft without a cakey texture, this is it. The only downside to these cookies is that you wont be able to stop yourself at just one, two, or even three! They are simply irresistible. I also love the almond flavor they have, everything is a little better with some almond extract I always say:) You can pair these cookies with your favorite frosting. I made a simple buttercream with almond extract and vanilla bean paste. Another perk to these cookies is that they really maintain the shape of the cookie cutter you use. Have you ever made sugar cookies with your favorite cookie cutter and found that after they baked the shape of the cookies ended up being nothing like your cutter? Well that wont happen with this recipe...at least it didn't happen when I made them:) Hope you have a chance to try this one out!

See how perfect it kept the heart shape?! I made mine about 1/4 of an
inch thick, maybe they would have spread a little more if I made them thicker, I'll
try it out and let you know how it turns out:)

Special Occasion Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softenend (I used 1/2 c. butter 1/4 c. butter flavor crisco)
1 egg
3 T. Whipping cream (I used half and half because that's what I had)
1 t. vanilla
1 t. almond ext.
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
Granulated sugar

Combine sugar, butter, egg, whipping cream, vanilla and almond ext. Beat at
med. speed until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder and salt at low
speed until soft dough forms. Cover and chill until firm.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. on floured surface roll dough 1/4 in. thick, cut
desired shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle lightly with
granulated sugar (I would only sprinkle with sugar if I wasn't frosting them). Bake 4-6 minutes.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

If you haven't made a fun Valentine treat yet, this is a good one to try out. I saw these on Annies Eats a little while ago and knew I had to try them out. I thought they would be fun to make for any occasion, but just perfect for Valentines Day. The texture of these were amazing, just like a whoopie pie should be. To be honest though, I didn't care too much for the red velvet pie by itself, but once I added the cream cheese icing it took it to another level. You can make these into simple round whoopie pies but they sure are cute as hearts. To see some great step by step pictures check out Annies Eats.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
Printer-Friendly Version
For the cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 oz. red food coloring

Ingredients:

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

*I added a little almond extract to the frosting

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F.

Using a heart template cut out from card stock, trace evenly spaced hearts onto pieces of parchment paper sized to fit two cookie sheets. Place the parchment on the cookie sheets so that the side you have drawn on is facing down; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Blend in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, beat in about a third of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the buttermilk, beating each addition just until incorporated. Repeat so that all the buttermilk has been added and then mix in the final third of dry ingredients. Do not overbeat. Blend in the food coloring.

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. Pipe the batter onto the parchment paper using the heart tracings as a guide. Bake 7-9 minutes or until the tops are set, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets at least 10 minutes, until they can be easily transferred to a cooling rack. Repeat with any remaining batter. Allow cookies to cool completely before proceeding.

To make the cream cheese frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.

Transfer the frosting to a clean pastry bag fitted with a plain, round tip. Pair the cookies up by shape and size.

Pipe frosting onto the flat-sided cookie of each pair, leaving the edges clear. Sandwich the cookies together so the flat sides are facing each other and press gently to help the filling reach the edges. To store, refrigerate in an airtight container.

Source: cookies adapted from Dinner and Dessert, originally from Better Homes & Gardens, December 2008; frosting frosting adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Clearing up the Confusion!!

Ok-so pretty much disregard a lot of what I said in my last post. I just went online to food network and read some of the comments again about Kathleen Kings cookies, and Kathleen herself posted a comment saying that 1 1/4 cups of butter is CORRECT! She also uses salted butter as well as adds salt to the recipe. Feels good to get that confusin cleared up:)

Kathleen Kings Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

I was watching Ina's new episode yesterday and she had a friend on showing her how to make chocolate almond cookies. They looked so amazing that I got up and started making them. I looked up the recipe on the food network and was surprised to see that it only called for 1 1/4 c. of butter online, when I was certain that she used 2 1/4 cups on tv. O well-I just proceeded and started making them from what the recipe online said. As the first batch was baking I decided to read some reviews about the recipe. Every review that was posted so far was saying how "the cookies turned out horrible because the butter measurement is off". I decided to rewatch the episode and find out for certain how much butter she used, and sure enough, it was 2 1/4 cups! I was expecting the cookies to turn out horrible, but they didn't! Quite the opposite actually, they were one of the best homemade cookies I have had. They had such a dense yet moist texture. If I didn't know it was missing a cup of butter I wouldn't have thought there was anything wrong with these cookies. I am however going to make these cookies again this week with the proper amount of butter. I think they could be even better, because they did get a little dry the second day, and I think if I used 2 1/4 cups of butter they would be more "gooey". Anyways here's the recipe, after I make them again with the full amount of butter I will do another post and let you know how they turned out:)

Kathleen King's Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups salted butter, softened to room temperature (I just found out for certain 1 1/4 c. is correct, disregard all of talk about 2 1/4 c. :) )
  
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1/2 c. semi and 1/2 c. milk)
  
• 1 cup almonds, chopped (I left out because I didn't have any)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (Recipe on tv also says to preheat oven to 375, I baked mine at 350 and they turned out fine, but I also used a cup less butter)

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix together. Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined.

Add the chocolates and almonds and mix until combined. Using two tablespoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop the dough two inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment. Bake for 15 minutes. (Mine were perfectly done at 12 minutes, check at 10 minutes)

Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets. The cookies should be very soft when they are removed from the oven. They will firm up as they cool.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

I feel like my blog is turning into a cookie blog, considering my last few posts have been about cookies! I guess I am just in the cookie baking mood:) This particular cookie, is one of my all time favorites! And fortunately, one of the easiest cookies you could ever make. I mean, is there anything better than two giant chocolate cookies stuck together by a thick layer of cream cheese icing? I don't think so, these homemade oreos are the perfect excuse to eat two cookies at a time. My problem is, I end up eating three of these homemade oreos in a sitting, now let's see....that's a grand total of 6 cookies plus frosting!!...I'd rather not think about that and just enjoy my cookie, which is calling my name as we speak:) Enjoy!

Homemade Oreo Cookies
1 devil's food cake mix (I have tried these with other chocolate cake mixes and they turn out just fine)
1/2 c. shortening
2 eggs

Mix the above ingredients together. Roll the dough into dime-sized balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool cookies.

FROSTING:

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 square butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 to 4 c. powdered sugar

Mix all of frosting ingredients until smooth. Frost BACKS of cookies and place together to make sandwich cookie.

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

The chocolate chip cookie-it seems like everyone is constantly striving to find the ultimate recipe. I am no exception. I always try different recipes, hoping to find some unbelievable recipe that somehow tops my usual chocolate chip cookie, but it hasn't happened yet. I always go back to my standard, which was a recipe I got from a lady in my home neighborhood. These cookies are truly amazing. They are always sure to please, never to disappoint. I think the secret is all of the mixing that is required. I make mine in my bosch, I haven't tried it yet in my kitchen aide mixer but am anxious to see if the results are the same. If anyone has a chocolate chip cookie recipe that you think could beat mine out, I'd love to hear it! I LOVE my recipe, but am not closed minded and am open to the possibility that some other recipe could be better:) I usually put chopped up symphony bar bits in my cookies instead of chocolate chips, I think that extra touch makes these cookies out of this world!

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Note: Like I said above, I have only made this in my bosch mixer, they could turn out a little different if you make them with a hand held mixer or with a kitchen aide, but I'm sure they would still be great:)

Mix for 8 minutes (stopping at 4 min. to scrap down sides)

¾ c. butter

¾ c. butter flavor Crisco

1 ½ c. firmly packed brown sugar

1 c. sugar

Add:

¼ c. milk

2 Tbs. vanilla

Add 2 eggs, one at a time, mixing for 2 min and 30 sec. after each.

Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl:

3 ½ c. flour

2 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

Mix dry ingredients together thoroughly so everything is combined. Add to creamed mixture and don’t mix long-just pulse to blend. If you have a bosch, pulse the medium switch 3-4 times.

Mix in by hand 2 c. chocolate chips.

Baking at 350 7-8 min.

Delicious Melt Away Cookies

As promised here is the recipe for the melt aways that my mom made for our cookie exchange. She originally got this recipe from one of her friends. My mom made these a little bit larger than her friend makes them, but they were still just as good. My moms friends makes them pretty small that you can pop the whole cookie in your mouth! These cookies are frosted with a cream cheese icing with a little almond extract, you can make your own frosting or buy some cream cheese icing and just add almond extract. I can't express how much I love these cookies!! And they are so simple, just 4 ingredients....yeees they are a little heavy on the butter, so make these when you aren't dieting because you wont be able to just stop at one:)

Melt Aways

1/2 lb butter (softenend)
1/3 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. corn starch
1 c. flour

Mix all ingredients on low speed until the dough comes together. Use a small cookie scooper and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 min, don't let them brown, just cook until the cookies set and you see small cracks.

Frost with favorite cream cheese icing with almond extract,one of my favorite cream cheese icings can be found here.

Tip: These cookies are a little fragile, so it makes it a little easier to place them in the freeze for a minute before frosting.

Cousins Cookie Exchange: Lucious Layer Bars...mmmmm....

A few weeks ago me, a few cousins, my mom and one of my aunts, had a Christmas cookie exchange. It was so much fun to get together, eat good food, and exchange wonderful cookies. We had such a beautiful and impressive spread of cookies. It never ceases to amaze me the wonderful cooking talent that is on my moms side. It seems that most of us girls on that side share a love for cooking and I love how good food has become a very important family tradition.

For the cookie exchange I made Lucious Layer Bars. My cousin Leilani made these for my brothers mission farewell and I could not stop eating them! They are so absolutely delicious, right up my ally, lots of coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and butterscotch chips. I should probably start off the new year by posting a light and healthy recipe...but....o well:) Light and healthy will be coming up soon, I just couldn't hold off any longer not posting this wonderful recipe. Here are some pics of the other cookies that were at the exchange, I will be emailing everyone and try to get all of the recipes for the cookies that were made so I can share them with you:)

Here are the luscious layer bars (recipe bellow), they may not look as fancy
as some of the other cookies, but they sure are delicious!

Not sure what the name of these beautiful cookies are, but they are
meringue dipped in chocolate, so pretty and yummy, I will track down the recipe:)
Again, not sure exact name, but they are a shortbread cookie topped with
chocolate and peppermint, so yummy, will get the recipe!
Ok...so if I HAD to pick a favorite, which would be hard because honestly
everyone of those cookies were amazing, but again if I HAD to pick one that I could
sit down and eat about ten...well these lovely melt away cookies might have to be it.
My mom made these, they literally melt in your mouth and are topped with a cream cheese
almond frosting, this recipe I will be posting next:)
And the ever popular peanut butter blossoms, sometimes there's just nothing better
than some peanut butter and chocolate:)Ok once again my luscious layer bars, finally the recipe is bellow!

Luscious Layer Bars

I pouch betty crocker chocolate chip cookie mix
1/2 cup better or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.

In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan using floured fingers.

Bake 15 minutes. Sprinkle with butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, coconut and walnuts. Drizzle evenly with condensed milk.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light gold brown. Cool completely, about 2 hours.

Tip: You can double this recipe and make it in a cookie sheet, that's what I did and it worked out just fine:)

Best ever Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Last week I finally broke my no baking streak! I was finally feeling good enough to get up and bake something. My mom recently came over to help me organize my kitchen. I think we are in a bit of a nesting mode. My kitchen was so unorganized!! We found over 5 bags of chocolate chips, lots of coconut, and plenty of flavored extracts I had no idea I had. My kitchen now looks amazing and I love cooking and baking in it. So I decided to utilize some of the coconut and chocolate chips I had recently discovered I had. I came across this coconut oatmeal cookie in my recipe book. I had never made them before but had always wanted to. Coconut is one of my favorite things in the whole world so I knew these would be amazing. I changed the recipe up a bit by adding some white chocolate chips along with the milk chocolate. This is an amazing recipe, I got rave reviews about these cookies. I can't wait to make them again. However, it looks like I am going to have to take a break from baking yet again. A few days ago I had some bleeding due to my pregnacy. Needless to say I think I have never been more scared in my life. I went to the emergency room and the found that I had a small subchorionic hemorage. I have had no bleeding for one day now and am super happy! Another exciting thing I found out is that my blood type is o-, now what this means is if my blood in any way comes in contact with the babies my body will reject the pregnancy. I honestly kind of wanted to laugh when I found this out because I couldn't believe my luck! So with any bleeding in pregnancy with this blood type you need to get a rhogam shot. So I got my shot yesterday and things should be fine if the babies blood came in contact with mine. Crazy hu! I really hope I have gotten all of the exciting things out of the way so I can stop stressing and start enjoying my pregnancy. I will keep you posted, in the meantime enjoy these wonderful cookies!

Also, thanks to everyone who left such sweet comments on my pregnancy post:)


Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. butter flavor crisco
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. oatmeal
1 c. coconut
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips (I did half white chocolate chips and half milk chocolate chunks)

Cream butter and add sugars gradually until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. In separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. Mix into creamed mixture just until blended. Stir in oats, coconut and chocolate chips. Bake @ 350 degrees for 8-10 min.

Daring Bakers do Cookies!

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.



Ok-so this month has been a crazy one! I have only posted twice this month which is really sad. I am just glad that I found time to complete this months Daring Bakers Challenge! However I didn't complete all I wanted to. I really wanted to try both the Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and the Milan Cookies. But my life this month only allowed me to bake the Milan Cookies so hopefully in the near future I can try the other ones out. These cookies were very simple to make. I have to say I am not a huge fan of Milan Cookies (I know I know! To some of you that may sound crazy) but these cookies did have a good flavor. I am not a huge fan of orange and chocolate together, but if you are then you will love these cookies! You can throw them together in a minute and take them to a party. I don't know if I will be making these cookies again because they weren't my cup of tea, but if you like Milan cookies, orange and chocolate then you will love them! I have included the recipe for the Milan Cookies as well as the Chocolate Covered Marshmallow cookies so enjoy!

Make sure you check out how the other Daring Bakers did here!

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Pioneer Baking

My little brother and sister are going on a pioneer trek this week. My sister had to make some pioneer candy and cookies so of course I was in. So let's start with the Honey Candy.


1 cup Honey
1 cup sugar
...thats it!

Bring to a boil over high heat stirring constantly.
Pour onto a buttered pan and cool just enough to handle.
Stretch until it is a light cream color and too stiff to handle.

Notice the difference after stretching it.

The taffy is now done, so you can let it cool and then break it into pieces, or do as we did and stretch it and then cut with buttered scissors.

Enjoy!

Now for the yummy ginger cookies. These cookies are really delicious! We had a few kinks at the begining that we worked out, but once we did they were fabulous!

Ginger Cookies
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 c. shortening (I did 1 cup butter half cup shortening)
2 eggs
1/2 c. molasses
1 tsp salt
4 2/3 c. whole wheat flour (my mom made these a second time and used 2/3 c. white flour and said they turned out great)
4 tsp. soda
2 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp cloves

Cream sugar, shortening, eggs and molasses. Add salt, soda and spices and flour and mix well. Form dough into balls and roll in granulated sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Ok so this cookie dough was delicious. I was so surprised by how amazing it
was because it was made with wheat flour, but it was
definitely hard to stay out of.

We used a cookie scoop so they would all be even....

and then flattened the top

Ok so here is the kink we worked out. The balls of cookie dough
were way too big! I use my cookie scoop for all the cookies
I make and have never had a problem, but I think because there is
so much baking soda in these cookies it made them expand a lot.

So we made much smaller balls of cookie dough and they turned out great.
We probably used a tablespoon of dough.

Both of these were a lot of fun to make. I will definitely be making these cookies
again soon they were so yummy!