Reliving Christmas

It's weird, I don't drink eggnog, don't like it one bit. But last Christmas a friend's wife sent over a big plate of various cookies, most were edible but nothing to die for. Except one cookie really stuck out with me, and that was the Eggnog Cookie. I had never had these before or even heard of them, and when it came time to plan my baking schedule this past Christmas I knew I had to make some Eggnog Cookies. I wasn't able to get the recipe from said friend, so I searched the web and when I came up empty handed I enlisted the help of my friends over on the Bakespace forum, and was given the perfect recipe. The original cookie had icing, but the recipe from Bakespace did not so I figured I could wing it and come up with my own icing, but after baking the cookies and doing a tastetest I nixed the icing idea because the cookies were so good as is. These Eggnog Cookies, are not your average cookie. They're soft and a little cakey, not chewy or crispy at all. Not typically what I go for, but these are great, and I love the hint of spice with that extra boost from the nutmeg sprinkled on top. And if you manage to keep these cookies around for more than a few days you'll be fooled into thinking you just baked them because they keep their freshness well. Don't forget to add these to your "must bake" list for next Christmas! EGGNOG COOKIES 2 ½ c. flour 1 t. baking powder ½ t. cinnamon ½ t. nutmeg 3/4 c. butter 1 1/4 c. sugar ½ c. eggnog 1 t. vanilla 2 egg yolks 1 T. nutmeg, for sprinkling Preheat oven to 300°. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar; add eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until just combined. Stir flour mixture into eggnog mixture until uniform. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet; sprinkle cookies lightly with nutmeg. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until bottoms are light brown.

Biscotti Brings Me Back

Hello? Anybody out there? After all my time away, quite possibly not, but I'll cross my fingers that someone is still reading my little ol blog. There has obviously been no blogging for quite some time, but amid the fiascos that are my life, I have continued to bake, and bake some delicious things I have! Bear with me, and I promise to do my best to catch everyone up on my baking adventures, and mix in a few stories about my crazy life. Christmas, which is when I went on my most recent blogging hiatus, was of course filled with many day long kitchen adventures. One of my favorite new recipes, which I included in my foodie gift bags, is this Coconut Biscotti recipe. I love, love, love biscotti, and I think this is my new favorite. The coconut flavor is not overpowering, it's just right. I found myself sneaking one of these every morning with my coffee until suddenly there were no more. Thankfully the biscotti are pretty low fat, so I wasn't too ridden with guilt. Coconut Biscotti From Cooking Light 2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut Preheat oven to 300°. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through nutmeg). Place sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until thick. Add flour mixture and coconut; stir to combine (dough will be very sticky). Turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface; knead lightly 7 or 8 times. Shape dough into a 15 x 3-inch roll. Place roll on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and pat to 1-inch thickness. Bake at 300° for 40 minutes or until roll is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Cut roll diagonally into 20 (1/2-inch-thick) slices; stand slices upright on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire rack. Yield 20 cookies (serving size: 1 biscotto) 2.5 grams of fat *The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups flour, but the dough was entirely too sticky.

The Christmas Cookie Craze Continues

I find myself craving these cookies..I mean really craving them. I've always been a gingerbread lover. But these cookies are over the top good to me. Just the perfect amount of spices and the texture is amazing, soft and chewy. They almost seem to melt in your mouth. One thing that intrigues me about this recipe is that it contains NO butter. None. Zero. Zilch. Not a single ounce. I've never tried sub'ing butter for the oil, I figured why risk ruining a wonderful thing? Curiousity hasn't gotten the best of me with this recipe, and I'm determined that it never will. The dough is formed into balls and half is dipped in sugar so they come out having these yummy little sugary sweet crunchies on top. Unfortunately when using just plain white granulated sugar those crunchies don't show up in the finished product, so this year I purchased what Wilton calls Sparkling Sugars, which is basically just sanding sugar. I'm not sure where this recipe actually originated. It was given to me by my boss at the time, titled "Angela's Gingersnaps", Angela being his wife's name. So possibly she developed or perfected the recipe. If so she came up with one hell of a cookie and my praises go out to her. Angela's Gingersnaps 1 1/3 c. oil(I used canola) 2 eggs 2 c. sugar 1/2 c molasses 4 c. all-purpose flour \ 3 tsp. baking soda \ 2 tsp. cinnamon \ sift together 2 tsp. ginger / 1 tsp. salt / Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt, set aside. Mix together oil, eggs, sugar and molasses just until combined. Add flour mixure and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Roll dough into small balls, about 1 tsp each. Dip 1/2 of each ball into sugar and place sugar side up on cookie sheet. Space several eachs apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen.

The holidays are here: SHF/IMBB Cookie Swap

I know Christmas is the season of giving. It's not about the presents & what cool gifts we get. But Lord forgive me for saying this, Christmas is also the season of eating. Then again, what season isn't a season of eating for a food obsessed person like me? lol So I started my holiday baking brainstorming sessions well before Thanksgiving, as a matter of fact, I think I started as soon as the first Christmas editions of my favorite magazines hit the stands. So far this year, I've bought 2 "special interest publications" from BH&G, a Christmas edition Family Circle & the infamous Martha Stewart "Holiday Cookies" issue. Believe me, I've got my eye on a few more..lol Do you think I will ever end up baking even a fourth of the yummy items in these magazines?? NO!! As a matter of fact, for the most part, I'll probably stick to my usual holiday cookies. But it's fun to daydream about all those yummy smells & delicious flavors. MmMmMmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. lol Of course, we've established my obvious obsession with food and baking. So you know I was thrilled when I read that this month's edition of Sugar High Friday is a joint project between Jennifer over at Domestic Goddess, and Alberto over at Il Forno. They came up with a WONDERFUL idea for this month's SHF/IMBB - a virtual cookie swap!! Isn't that fantastic?? It gives everyone a great excuse to get a jump on their holiday cookie baking, testing out new recipes a few weeks in advance. Not to mention the swap is a fantastic way to get new holiday cookie recipes, with reveiws to go along with them. For those of us in the US, the swap has fallen on a pretty hectic week for many of us - Thanksgiving!! It hasn't been too crazy for me, but the fact of the matter is, we have TONS upon TONS of leftovers and mulitple batches of cookies would just go to waste for us right now. So for the actual cookie swap I have only baked 1 new recipe. BUT!!! I'm including my recipe for the best homemade chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted. I LOVE chocolate, pretty obvious from previous posts right?? Yes!! lol And I LOVE marshmellow stuffed inside most anything chocolate, so I found the perfect recipe for me as I was flipping the pages of MS's Holiday cookies magazine. There they were on pg. 89 in all their "cakey and tender" glory - Surprise Cookies. Ohmygosh!! These cookies are divine!! And I'm soooo proud they came out looking JUST LIKE MARTHA's!!! My only complaint?? You can't really taste the marshmellow. Would I make them again?? In a heartbeat!! Surprise Cookies ~ makes 2 1/2 dozen For the cookies: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder(not Dutch-process) 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp coarse salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1 large egg 1/2 whole milk 1 tsp vanilla extract About 15 marshmellows halved crosswise For the frosting: 3 cups confectioners' sugar 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder(not Dutch-process) 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp whole milk 3/4 tsp vanilla extract 1. Make cookies: Preheat over to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt into medium bowl; set aside. Put butter & sugar into bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium high speed until pale & fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk & vanilla. Mix in flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined. 2. Using a 1 3/4 inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm, 8-10 minutes. Immediately press a marshmellow half on top of each cookie. Bake until marshmellows begin to melt, 2 minutes more. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. 3. Make frosting: Put confectioners' sugar in medium bowl; set aside. Melt butter with cocoa powder in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occassionally. Add butter mixture to confectioners' sugar. Whisk in milk and vanilla. Spread about 1 Tbsp of frosting on top of each cookie to cover marshmellow. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days. Now..on to the best homemade chocolate chip cookies ever!! Move over Mrs. Fields here I come..using your recipe..lol I know we've all seen those copcat recipes right?? Well, I think this one really is because when I eat one of these cookies fresh from the oven, if I close my eyes I swear I'm standing in the middle of the mall foodcourt loaded down with arms full of shopping bags. Ahhh heaven isn't it? lol Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe