Showing posts with label Cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cookies. Show all posts

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Black & White Cookies


Looking for a harmonious treat? Then look no further! The black and white cookie represents equality and coming together as one. Don't believe me? Watch Seinfeld and your perception will change. ;) 

Backstory: I love Seinfeld. The husband and I own the collection on DVD as well as on iTunes. We watch them before bed every night. There is an episode where Jerry has an insight on the black and white cookie. Ever since that episode I have wanted to make a black and white cookie. It seems like a weird reason to want to bake something, but I have also read how soft and cake-like these can be. 

XO, 
Brooke






Ingredients: 

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
3 ounces very bitter or unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 to 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Preheat oven to 375°. Yields about 60 cookies.

For the cookie: In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then milk and extracts, and mix until smooth. Scrape down bowl.

In medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, and salt. Stir until mixed. Add dry mixture to the wet in batches, stirring well after each addition. Using a tablespoon, place heaping spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until edges begin to brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool completely.

For the frosting: Boil a cup or so of water in a small pot. Place confectioners’ sugar in large, heat-safe mixing bowl. Gradually stir in enough boiling water to the sugar to make a thick, spreadable mixture. Be careful not to make too runny. You want a consistency that hardens after applying. Leave remaining boiling water on the stove.

Spread frosting on half of the flat side of each cookie. Once all cookie halves have been frosted, place the bowl of the remaining frosting over the hot water and bring it back to a simmer (creating a double-boiler). Stir in the bitter or unsweetened chocolate until melted, as well as the light corn syrup. 
Ice the remaining half of the cookies with the chocolate frosting. Adding in a teaspoon of the hot water if consistency is dry.

Let the frosting set. Store in an airtight container. These cookies keep for only a few days, since they are on the cakier side. In my house they didn’t even last that long so it didn’t matter. ;) 






Note: If your batter looks like this, don't be frightened, you are on the right path!












Friday, March 1, 2013

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I make these all the time now, well all the time being since November. You will LOVE these cookies!! Everytime I make them, they get me extra kudos from friends, or a nice foot rub from the hubby...yeah..they're that magical.


The recipe is from the side of a flour bag..I know- CRAZY! and SIMPLE


And they are perfect for packaging and giving away



Monday, February 18, 2013

Healthy-ish Oatmeal Banana Cookies





Every time my bananas get this way, I scramble to find a way to use them! I hate when I buy them and I don't finally think about eating them until they get to this stage.



This recipe is adapted from This Recipe

So, I really do this when I need to go off a recipe- I find it on my laptop, I email it to myself and pull it up on my iPhone...then use this nifty holder...it really is awesome, right?! Barnes & Noble if you must know!


These are the Ingredients that I used to make them Healthy-Ish..
 

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2-1 cup Reduced-fat Peanut Butter

4 tablespoons maple syrup

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (note: if you are using salted peanut butter, you may not need any salt, do a taste test with the batter)

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl, mix bananas, vanilla, peanut butter and maple syrup into a creamy consistency (best to do with a hand mixer).

In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder and salt

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they are well combined, the batter should be slightly sticky. Fold in the chocolate chips. The batter will be somewhat runny, this is ok.

Place heaping tablespoon-sized balls of the batter onto a parchment lined (silpat if you have one) cookie sheet and cook for 13-15 minutes.

Makes around 2 dozen cookies. You can see how you can easily make these Gluten Free cookies as well, for instance, I used the brown rice flour, but you can find gluten free vanilla extract, baking powder and you can use other flour combinations. I am not entirely sure if semi sweet chocolate chips are, but I would think Dark chocolate chips would be?


They stay this shape when you bake them, so I loaded my baking sheet.

The final product...YUM! and I am just going to say it..cause my Husband said it ...These are Yummy Banana Chocolate Balls! We are going to save them for the week as a quick breakfast in the morning.
 
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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Brer Rabbit Molasses Cookies


Throughout the years we have associated Sunday with family time. Today, as I was sitting in my room playing Sims and watching Seinfeld while my husband recorded in the other room, I realized I needed a little bit of "family" in my Sunday. Since there wasn't any family nearby I decided to dig into my Grandma Sorensen's recipe boxes. I love these boxes, I was able to take them after my grandma passed and I cherish them. As I was rummaging through recipes I came upon these molasses cookies named after Brer Rabbit. I don't know if you have heard any Brer Rabbit stories, but instantly after reading the name I thought back to all of the times my Grandma Bladen read them to me as a kid. They are very silly and always have some kind of moral at the end. So within about 5 minutes of wanting family on this Sunday I had both my grandmas on my mind.



Onto the cookies! I have never made molasses cookies before, they are kind of like gingersnaps but richer. I was nervous how they would turn out but was very pleased in the end! If you want something sweet and to warm you during this cold winter, try these out!

Brer Rabbit Molasses Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C Shortening
2 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 C Molasses
4 C Flour
4 tsp Soda
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger

In large bowl mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and molasses thoroughly.  In separate bowl sift flour and combine remaining dry ingredients. In 3 increments add dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Chill for 30 minutes. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, then roll in sugar. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes (mine took 12 minutes) on greased cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy!