I - heart - U cookies

Happy (late) valentine's day!!!

In honour of this holiest of days, I baked some heart shaped cookies:) Yay!! I looked all over the internet for a sugar cookie recipe, as well as an icing recipe. I found many (many, many...) recipes, so I started with this cream cheese recipe I found on AllRecipes. It's pretty managable, easy to roll out and tastes really good, especially when they're fresh:) I recommend this recipe, it's nothing spectacular, but it does the trick:)

As for the royal icing, again, I found many (many, many...) recipes, all pretty much made from the same ingredients (meringue powder, water and icing sugar). I tried the recipe from Sweetopia, which turned out to be really good, and very easy to make/use. BTW if you have a sec check out her site, it's got great tips and tutorials, and it's full of ideas for fun cookie projects!!

What you’ll need:

Cream cheese sugar cookies

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 (3oz) package cream cheese, softened (about 85g = 1/3 of a 250g package)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

On a lightly floured surface (or between two sheets of wax paper) roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters.

Place 1 inch apart on ungreased (parchment paper) cookie sheets.

Leave cookies plain for frosting, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or coloured sugar.

Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown. Cool cookies on baking sheets before transferring to a cooling rack, otherwise they’ll crack:(.

Cool completely before frosting.

Royal Icing

6 oz (3/4 cup) of warm water

5 Tablespoons Meringue Powder

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 kilogram (2.25 lbs.) powdered icing sugar

** Note: if your meringue powder has no vanilla flavour (vanillin powder) in it, add a teaspoon of clear vanilla (or any other clear flavoring you have on hand) to this recipe.

Directions:

In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy and thickened…about 30 seconds.

Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 seconds more.

Pour in all the icing sugar at once and place the bowl on the mixer.

Using the paddle attachment on the LOWEST speed, mix slowly for a full 10 minutes. Icing will get thick and creamy.

Cover the bowl with a dampened tea-towel to prevent crusting and drying.

Tint with food colourings or thin the icing with small amounts of warm water to reach the desired consistency.

Pipe/flood onto cooled cookies, let dry and enjoy!!

Hope you had a great Valentine's day, I know I did (eating cookies!!)

Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps

Wow. I mean, wow. There are no words to describe these cookies. If you’re a coffee fan, you’ll LOVE these! (and if you don’t like coffee, then stay away!!) They actually taste like chocolate covered coffee beans...covered in powdered sugar. Mmmmmmm...I’m drooling just thinking about them. Can I eat another one? I’ve only had like 10 :-P Maybe that's where I found the energy to clean the dishes (twice), cook supper, do the laundry, take/edit pics, write this post...gotta love caffeine:D

I found this recipe on Martha Stewart’s website. She really knows her cookies! They’re moist, very tasty, and pretty easy to make. I’m sure they’d even taste great without the powdered sugar. If you find yourself stuck inside hiding from the snow, or you crave chocolate covered coffee beans and don’t feel like going all the way to Starbucks, give these a try;) Just keep them away from kids, they'll be bouncing off the walls after one of these cookies!

Quick word of warning, this recipe will cause a sugary mess. No matter how careful you are, there will be powdered sugar all over your kitchen...Beware...

What you’ll need:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 teaspoons instant espresso

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 large egg

4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 cup confectioners sugar, for coating

Directions:

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until well combined, then mix in the cooled chocolate.

With a spoon or spatula, gradually add the dry ingredients, and the milk just until combined.

Flatten the dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl; working in batches, roll balls in sugar, twice.

Place balls on prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, about 12 to 14 minutes; cookies will still be soft to the touch, let them cool on the sheets about 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melting Chocolate

There are many different ways of melting chocolate, but all of them are similar, in that the chocolate is not heated too quickly or to a too high temperature, and avoid dropping any water (or any other liquid) in your melting chocolate. Here are a few methods you can try:

Double-boiler:

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl, or the top part of a double-boiler. Set the bowl (or “top part”) over a pan of simmering, but not boiling, water. (Be careful not to get water into the melting chocolate or it will become grainy.) Heat the chocolate until about 2/3 of it is melted, stirring constantly (well...maybe not constantly, but often). Remove from heat; continue stirring until chocolate is completely melted (this time you need to stir constantly:-P).

Stove top:

Place the chocolate in a small or medium saucepan. Heat chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly (again...you know what I mean), until about 2/3 of the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat; continue stirring until chocolate is completely melted.

Microwave:

Place coarsely chopped chocolate in a microwavable bowl. Microwave the chocolate for about 30 seconds; remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the chocolate. Reheat for 10-15 seconds, stir chocolate again, and repeat until completely melted. (This is the method I use most often....shhhh don’t tell the chocolatiers!!)

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I went to a certain sandwich fast food place a few weeks back. Of course, I had the cookie combo, and had myself some white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. I always find those cookies so good!! Anywho, after enjoying my cookies, I remembered a recipe I had found many years ago, and I thought “I should try those again”.

I had found the recipe on a white chocolate chip package, and from what I remember, I thought they tasted really good. However, this was back in my early undergrad days, and they were probably among the very first batch of cookies I’ve ever made. Ah, to be 19 again...

I don’t know if my taste buds have evolved over the years, or if I’ve cooked too many recipes and have developed a much more critical eye, but I only found the recipe “okay” this time around. So, I tweaked it a little. I also didn’t find any macadamia nuts at my grocery store, so I substituted half the recipe with unsalted peanuts, and the second half with hazelnuts. Both weren’t as good as the original, but I prefer the peanut batch.  

What you'll need:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

225g (1 pkg) white chocolate chips

1 cup macadamia nuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt, and blend into the sugar mixture.

Add chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by spoonful onto ungreased (parchment paper covered) cookie sheet.

If you want crispier cookies, flatten with the bottom of a glass.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned.

Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet about 2 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Eat and enjoy!!!

Peanut Brittle

Ahh peanut brittle. It’s crunchy, it’s sticky and it tastes like peanuts!:-) I’ve had my share of peanut brittle over the years, and they were mostly so sticky, that I always felt I could only eat one piece...until now:-)

This recipe I found on AllRecipes is simply the best peanut brittle I’ve ever had. For this recipe to succeed, you’ll need a candy thermometer. I can’t stress this point enough! With this tool, you’ll make irresistible, perfect brittle. Also, make sure your baking soda is “fresh”. To do so, mix ¼ tsp baking soda with 2 tsp vinegar, and the mixture should bubble immediately. With fresh baking soda, you should have a light brittle, full of little “bubbles” in the center. See the bubbles??

What you’ll need:

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup water

1 cup peanuts

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

Grease a large cookie sheet and keep warm in a 300 degrees F oven.

In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and stir in peanuts. Set the candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until the temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.  *note* The mixture will take a while to reach 250 degrees, but after that it will go much faster to reach 300 degrees, so keep a close eye on the thermometer from that point on.

 Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter and baking soda. Pour at once onto cookie sheet, trying to cover as much of the cookie sheet as possible at this point. Tilt the cookie sheet to spread the mixture as much as possible and cool. Snap candy into pieces and enjoy!!



Snickerdoodles

I've seen snickerdoodle recipes for ages on all the baking sites, I've even printed a whole bunch and put them in with all my other printed recipes, but I've never bothered trying one, since I'd never tasted snickerdoodles before. So for Christmas this year, I decided to try them. I was not disappointed!! Why didn't I try this before?? If you're a fan of cinnamon, these are a must!

I combined various sources of the recipe (All Recipes, Martha Stewart and chef Michael Smith) to come up with some sort of compromise between all of them, and here's what I came up with.

What you’ll need:

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

For topping/coating:

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until creamy, then add the eggs and the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, blend the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt, then add to the butter mixture.

Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

Mix the 2 tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon. Roll the balls of dough in the mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. The cookies should be crackled but still shiny in the center.

Remove from baking sheets onto cooling racks.

Cool and enjoy!!!