Tag Archives: baking

December 10, 2013 · 5:43 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Rocky Road Cookies

DAY 10: Rocky Road Cookies

Chocolate cookies packed with chopped almonds, chocolate chips and dried marshmallow bits. Your favorite ice cream flavor in cookie form. Perfect with a tall glass of super cold milk.

These are the marshmallow bits that are used to make these cookies. They are very small dried marshmallow bits. They are perfect for cookies because when they are cooked, they don’t melt like regular marshmallows. Don’t substitute real marshmallows in your cookie dough: they will melt all over your cookie sheets. These bits do tend to dissolve some if over-mixed, so add them last to your dough and only mix until barely combined. I like to reserve a few and press them into the tops of each cookie dough ball just before baking.

RECIPE:

Rocky Road Cookies

Servings: 4 dozen
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2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup Dutch processed cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1 ½ cups (1 jar) Mallow Bits, divided

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

With a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla extract until blended.

Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix until dough is smooth. Mix in chocolate chips and chopped almonds. Gently mix in 1 cup Mallow Bits. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet. Press a few mallow bits into the top of each cookie.

Bake at 350°F for 10-11 minutes, or until the cookies are set around the edges, but still soft in the center. Don’t over bake. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

(From TwoPeasAndTheirPod)

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December 1, 2013 · 9:28 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Scottish Shortbread

Welcome to the Fifth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies. Twelve days of cookies and treats perfect to share with friends and family or for a delicious holiday table of your own.

DAY 1: Sometimes simplicity makes for the best cookies. There is nothing fancy about this shortbread. Just good, quality ingredients that combine to make a cookie that melts in your mouth. A perfect companion to a cup of homemade hot cocoa.

For a fancier treat, dip half of each cookie in melted dark chocolate.

RECIPE:

Scottish Shortbread

Servings: 4 dozen
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2 cups butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
4 ½ cups flour
OPTIONAL: 6 oz dark chocolate (about 1 cup chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Make sure that butter is very soft, but not melted. Cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer for 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla and salt. Gradually add flour, mixing well.

Lightly sprinkle flour on a pastry board or mat. Gently press dough into a rectangle ½” thick (about 10”x 12”). Cut dough into 1” strips lengthwise and then into 2-3” wide rectangles. Prick each cookie with a fork about 4 times.

Use a thin metal spatula to transfer unbaked cookies to an ungreased baking sheet, leaving a small space between cookies. Bake at 325°F for 20-25 minutes. Do not brown. Cool on a wire rack.

OPTIONAL: Melt chocolate and pour into a narrow bowl or cup. Dip half of each cooled cookie in the melted chocolate. Place on parchment paper or wax paper to harden.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

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More cookies to tempt your taste buds:

First Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2009)

Second Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2010)

Third Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2011)

Fourth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2012)

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Tagged as baking, bar cookies, Christmas cookies, Cookies, dessert, recipes, Scottish, shortbread

November 25, 2013 · 8:07 am

How to . . . Blind Bake a Piecrust

“Blind Baking” is a term for baking a pie crust with no filling. This pre-baked crust is used for any pie that is not cooked in the oven with its filling: pies with cream or custard fillings, ice-cream pies, lemon meringue pie, strawberry pie.

When you bake a pie crust without a filling, it tends to have bubbles form in the bottom part of the crust, or the sides sink and fall into the center of the crust. To keep this from happening, you need to bake the crust in two steps: first with something weighing down the bottom of the crust, and then without the weights to finish cooking the crust. Here is a quick How To… on blind baking a perfect crust.

Start with any crust recipe. Here is one that I like for an All Butter Pie Crust. Place in your pie plate and flute the edges. When you flute your edges, press down slightly on the indentations where the crust touches the top edge of the pan to keep it from sliding down the sides as it bakes.

Place a square of foil in the bottom of your crust. I like to use non-stick foil (non-stick side touching the crust) to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the crust. Extend the foil slightly up the sides of the crust, but do not cover the fluting on the edges. Add about 1-2 cups of DRIED beans to your foil bowl. You can also buy pie weights (either loose or on a chain), but beans are a great cheap alternative.

Bake the weighted crust at 400°F for 10 minutes.

Remove the beans and foil and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork.

Place a pie crust shield on the edges of your crust to keep them from overcooking while you bake the crust again. You can buy a pie crust shield or make your own. Here is an easy HOW TO on making one that is just the right size for your pie plate: Make Your Own Pie Crust Shield.

Bake empty crust for an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Be sure to cool crust completely before filling.

Instructions:

How to Blind Bake a Piecrust

Prepare pie crust and place in pie plate. Flute edges, if desired.
Line bottom of pie crust with foil (I like non-stick foil), extending foil slightly up the sides of the crust. Add 1-2 cups dried beans, or use pie weights.
Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.
Remove beans or weights and foil. Prick bottom of crust with a fork. Place a pie crust shield over the edges of the crust and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool completely before filling.

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Stained Glass Valentine Cookies

Here is a fun Valentine treat to make with kids and is easier than your traditional frosted sugar cookies. All you need is a good sugar cookie recipe, a package of Jolly Rancher hard candies and two different sized heart cookie cutters.

To begin, you will need to line your baking sheets with silicon mats or parchment paper. Non-stick foil might work as well, but I haven’t tried that yet.

Prepare your dough and cut out large hearts. I usually like to make nice thick sugar cookies, but these need to be about 1/8” thick, or the center “window” will be too thin compared to the cookie. Place cookies on baking sheet and then cut out the smaller heart in the center of each cookie. Cutting out the smaller heart after the cookie is on the baking sheet helps the cookie dough retain its shape. It is harder to move cookie dough with the center cut out. You can bake the little hearts along with the big ones, or reroll them with your dough scraps.

Place one Jolly Rancher candy (whole) in the center of each cookie. If your openings are smaller than the candies, you can crush the candies first, but I found that there are fewer bubbles in your windows if you leave the candies whole. And it is so much easier than crushing hard candy!

While the cookies bake, the candies will melt and fill in the centers.

After baking, let the cookies completely cool and the candy window centers harden before removing from baking sheet.

Store covered between layers of waxed paper or parchment paper. The candy centers will stick together if they touch.

You could also make these into cookie pops by inserting lollypop sticks into the bottoms of each heart before baking.

It would also be fun to make some for other holidays using different cookie cutters, or a linzer cookie cutter (crush candies first if using a small linzer cutter). Or a gingerbread man with a tiny cut-out heart.

RECIPE:

Stained Glass Valentine Cookies

3 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
About 7 – 7 ½ cups flour
1 package Jolly Rancher candies
2 heart cookie cutters (one large and one small)

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter, sour cream and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Mix in baking soda, salt and enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough (Start with 7 cups and add more if needed).

Chill for 20 minutes to 1 hour, if necessary, for easier handling. Roll out dough to about 1/8” and cut with large heart cookie cutter. Cut out a smaller heart inside of each cookie. You can bake these plain smaller hearts, or re-roll them with the dough scraps.

Place hearts on a baking sheet lined with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper. Place one whole Jolly Rancher candy in the center of each heart.

Bake at 375°F for 9 -10 minutes, or until candies have melted; cookies should not be browned on the edges. They should look white when done. Cool completely on the baking sheet. When candy centers are completely cool and hardened, remove cookies to a sheet of parchment paper.

Store covered between layers of waxed paper or parchment paper. The candy centers will stick together if they touch.

Makes 5-6 dozen, depending on the size of the cookie cutter

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December 13, 2012 · 7:17 am

Fourth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies Recap

A Recap of our Fourth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies

—
Happy Baking!
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DAY 1: Dulce de Leche Ginger Cookies

DAY 2: German Chocolate Cake Cookies

DAY 3: Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

DAY 4: Peanut Butter Snowflake Cookies

DAY 5: Snickerdoodle Bars

DAY 6: Almond Joy Cookies

DAY 7: Butterscotch Cinnamon Chip Cookies

DAY 8: Hot Cocoa Cookies

DAY 9: Chocolate Buttermilk Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips

DAY 10: Oatmeal Apple Cookies

DAY 11: Chocolate Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies

DAY 12: White Chocolate Cherry Pistachio Cookies

Our family’s wishes to yours for a healthy and happy
Christ-centered Christmas season!

—

Want more cookie ideas? Try these:

First Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2009)

Second Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2010)

Third Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2011)

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Tagged as baking, christmas, Christmas cookies, Cookies, food, recipes

December 12, 2012 · 2:24 pm

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: White Chocolate Cherry Pistachio Cookies

DAY 12: White Chocolate Cherry Pistachio Cookies

A Christmas cookie with a sophisticated taste. Dried cherries, chopped pistachios and drizzled with melted white chocolate. Save these for the grown-up table.

RECIPE:

White Chocolate Cherry Pistachio Cookies

Servings: Makes 4 dozen cookies
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1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
3 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt (increase to 1 tsp if pistachios are unsalted)
¾ cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
¾ cup dried cherries (or cranberries)
½ cup white chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips + 1 tsp shortening for drizzling

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a mixer bowl, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla and almond extracts.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to mixing bowl and beat just until combined. Mix in cherries (snip cherries in half with scissors if they are large), pistachios and ½ cup white chocolate chips.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop dough onto cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Place remaining 1 cup white chocolate chips and shortening in a Ziploc bag. Microwave for about 45 seconds. Knead bag with hands to melt chips. Use a toothpick to poke a hole in one corner of the bag. Drizzle white chocolate over cooled cookies.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

(Recipe adapted from Haute Apple Pie)

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