Garam Masala Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Inspired by Julie at One-Wall Kitchen's decision to include maple mousse as a ripple in homemade apple cinnamon ice cream I decided to freeze my leftover mousse and make "ice cream" sandwiches. Cinnamon and maple sounded great, so I wanted to use oatmeal raisin cookies. Needless to say when I spotted the Garam Masala Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies Monica Bhide adapted it was all over.

I halved the original recipe and then going by taste reduced the garam masala by an additional 1/4 teaspoon since my spice tolerance isn't the highest. The remaining garam masala and raisins still provided plenty of flavor to mask my other change -- switching out the white flour for whole wheat as whole grains are good. The resulting cookies are chewy inside with a crisp exterior and a slightly spicy flavor that builds as you eat them.

Making these cookies was so easy I am wondering why I don't make cookies more often...we'll see what happens there. Ha! As for the maple mousse, it was tasty cold but a little chewy once frozen. That won't be happening again.

Garam Masala Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
Slightly adapted from these Garam Masala Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies Monica Bhide adapted at NPR's Kitchen Window
Yields 2 dozen cookies

3/4 cup Regular or Quick-Cooking Oats
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 tsp Garam Masala (I used store-bought.)
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup packed Dark Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets or place Sil-pats on them.
2. Combine the oats, flour, garam masala, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Mix the butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.
4. Add the egg and fully incorporate it into the dough. Add the vanilla.
5. Add the flour mixture one third at a time and mixing until just combined after each addition.
6. Mix in the raisins.
7. Using a half tablespoon measuring spoon, place balls of dough onto cookie sheets. Flatten slighty.
8. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden (my oven took 12 minutes). Cool on wire racks.

This song is still catchy and the video is still great, even if I'm not bitter about anyone I used to date at this point.

Maple Mousse in Carrot Cake Cookie Cups

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com! You can download all the details and provided recipes here. Thanks for another tasty challenge, Evelyne. Maple Mousse in Carrot Cake Cookie Cups was a big hit with my extended family on Easter.

Evelyne made bacon cups and nut cups for her maple mousse. I created a carrot cake "cookie cup" to hold mine. The cookies are very soft with a nice spice flavor from cinnamon and ginger and a little bit of crunch/chew from the currants and walnuts. They aren't too sweet either, which was a plus since the creamy and delicious maple mousse is pretty darn sweet on its own. I tried three methods to make the "cups" and have detailed each below in the instructions. I recommend making the largest cups as they were the easiest and allowed maximum mousse consumption.

My mousse's texture was slightly bumpy, but I would try the making it again. It tasted light in spite of being anything but with all that whipping cream and the egg yolks! I suspect my problem was the gelatin setting beyond where it should have before I could fold in the whipped cream but only time will tell... As for the cookies, I'll definitely have them again and when I do I'll add a yield for the recipe. They can be baked in a mini-muffin tin for your own Two-Bite Treat a la Whole Foods or served topped with the traditional cream cheese frosting.

Oh and I attempted these carrot curls as toppers but they didn't pan out. Candied carrot crumbles took their place - less pretty but still effective. If you have any technical or other suggestions for me, please pass them along. There is always refining to be done... Have a great day!

Maple Mousse
Yield 6 cups

1 cup Pure Maple Syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup)
4 Large Egg Yolks
1 package/ 1 Tbsp. Unflavored Gelatin
1.5 cups Whipping Cream (35% fat content)

1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat. (Choose a saucepan big enough to hold all of the mousse.)
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk egg yolks. Pour a bit of the heated maple syrup into the egg yolks while whisking (this will temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).
3. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup and whisk until well mixed.
4. Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.
5. Whisk the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.
6. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white. (Note: I set a timer and checked at intervals. As of 35 minutes it was the consistency of rubber cement...too hard...but still usable. Keep close watch!)
7. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream, transfer to a more fridge-friendly container and refrigerate for at least an hour.
8. Remove from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.

Carrot Cake "Cookie Cup"
Improvised using Simplifried's Cookie Template and several Carrot Cake/Cupcake recipes (Orangette, Cooking Light, The Delicious Life, Cupcake Project, Yum Sugar, Deliciously Organic)
Yield TBD

1 stick Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup and 1 tbsp. White Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg, room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 2/3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/4 cup Walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup Carrot, grated and drained (or liquid pressed out if you are short on time like me!)
1/4 cup Currants (substitued for raisins per The Cupcake Project's lead)

1. In the bowl of a large mixer combine 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon of white sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Mix on high until the butter gets fluffy and turns light yellow. The sugar should all be incorporated. Once this happens add the egg and vanilla extract and continue mixing for 15 seconds.
2. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Mix until fully incorporated.
3. Add the walnuts, carrot and currants. Mix until just incorporated.
4. Transfer the dough into plastic wrap or a greased bowl covered in plastic and place it in the freezer for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.
5a. Lightly oil mini-cupcake tin. Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough into each cupcake form. Bake cookies for 10 minutes*. Grease back of scoop. Remove cookies from oven and immediately press the tops with the scoop/measuring spoon to create an cup-like indention.
5b. Lightly oil upside down mini-cupcake tin. Scoop tablespoon of dough into your lightly oiled hand. Flatten. Lay over the mini-cupcake tin. Bake 10 minutes*. Cool and remove from tin. (I don't recommend this as they often crumbled.)
5c. Lightly oil a regular cupcake tin. Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough into each cupcake form. Bake cookies for 10 minutes*. Grease a shot glass. Remove cookies from oven and immediately press the tops with the shot glass to create a cup-like indentation.
6. Remove to a baking sheet to cool. The mousse will melt if you top them while they are hot.
I haven't tried it but Greenism smooshed her cookie containers into cups halfway through the baking process. That might be even better!

*Or until a toothpick pressed into the center comes out clean.

Courtney, of course, highlighted that Fleet Foxes have a new album coming out and it can be streamed online at NPR, so they seemed like a great band to highlight this post.

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Vanilla Mint Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies. The panna cotta was luscious and the crispy, sweet florentine cookies irresistible. It was a fun challenge without obscure ingredients or tedious steps. Thank you for hosting, Mallory.

In high school my favorite lip products were Victoria's Secret's Enchanted Pear Roll-On Gloss and Bath & Body Works' Vanilla Mint Lip Balm. They were tasty enough that their application was counterproductive to providing lip moisture as I licked them right off. I also sometimes offered flavor choices to boys I dated prior to kissing. What a catch! Ha. Remembering all this inspired me to flavor my panna cotta Vanilla Mint. The end result tasted more natural than that lip gloss but was still sweet, refreshing and, thanks to the recipe's high fat content, left my lips feeling (temporarily) moist.

The Florentine Cookies' impressive appearance belies the work involved. They can be baking in under 30 minutes and can burn quickly, so keep an eye on them once they are in the oven. The batter looks very wet but the liquid becomes a toffee-like gold. Trust me. Don't add dry ingredients or you will end up with a sad, heavy cookie. I didn't like them as much with chocolate since it overwhelmed the buttery, toffee flavor but feel free to try it. These Oatmeal Lace Cookies from when the Daring Cooks tackled Nut Butters are very similar and also delicious. For either cookie plan to eat them fairly quickly as they soften over time.

You can download Mallory's tips and all the related recipes here. My adjusted version of the panna cotta is below. The texture was good but I had a bit of trouble unmolding it. Maybe next time it will go more smoothly! But I will definitely use greek yogurt or similar in the future to reduce the fat. All that cream overwhelmed me.

Giada's Vanilla Panna Cotta

1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon (one packet)unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
1/4 cup agave nectar (this was 1/3 cup honey)
1 tablespoon granulated vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
3 stalks of mint
2 drops peppermint extract
pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigerator for a few minutes before you start making the Panna Cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.
2. Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. Add three stalks of mint. (I whisk it a few times at this stage).
3. Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, vanilla bean paste, peppermint extract and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, remove mint stalks, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.
5. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve.

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Bailey’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know I just posted cookies last week but these were even better than I remembered so I needed to share them immediately. And I'm not going to hide it there may be more cookies on the horizon as I'm on a baking binge. I blame cold weather and academic anxiety. We'll just act like Spring isn't around the corner and that bikinis won't have to fit down the road. *cough*

Moving on. One of my former colleagues, Meghan, treated the office to these Bailey’s Chocolate Chip Cookies each year in December. When I first tasted them in 2008 I requested the recipe almost simultaneously as I love Bailey's. It wasn't until Tuesday night that I remembered I had it and decided it was the perfect dessert for Mom to share with the clinic.

These very tender cookies are boozy and sweet. While they are baked you would almost swear their middle is still dough (probably what these dough balls are going for). Their only redeeming value nutritionally is my use of white whole wheat flour...but who cares? They are delicious. Thanks so much the recipe, Meghan! I miss you and many others at the office (and in NYC in general).

Bailey’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
2.25 cups cake flour (I used White Whole Wheat; She used All Purpose for hers.)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
6 oz. chocolate chips (I used mini-chocolate chips
¾ c coconut flakes (skipped per Meghan's adaptation - why detract from the Bailey's?)
½ c. chopped pecans (skipped see above)

1. Cream butter and sugars until smooth.
2. Add egg, vanilla and Bailey’s; mix well.*
3. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to the mixture a little at a time until thoroughly blended. (I added the flour in thirds.)
4. Add chips, etc. Mix.
5. Drop by spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet.**
6. Bake in 375 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes.

*If you are me this is where you add milk to the measuring cup and drink milk with hint of Bailey's. Because you can.
**Using a 1 Tablespoon Scoop my yield was approximately 50 cookies, in spite of eating (plenty of) batter. Meghan's yield was 3 dozen. Presumably because dropping leads to a more traditional cookie shape.  

Crescent Jam and Cheese Cookies

This past weekend Diana hosted her 7th Annual D.C. Wine & Cheese Soiree. It is always a great opportunity to be classy in cocktail attire while trying new cheeses and wines and catching up with old friends. We used to end it early to go dancing in Adams Morgan but these days we linger at her apartment until late. It is hard to believe I've known Diana and the rest of the "Fab 5 (6-7-8...)" for 7 years. My time in DC is time I cherish more and more as the years go by...

I can't tell you a favorite wine from the night but Stilton with Lemon Peel was my favorite cheese. It was creamy, tangy and a little sweet. I also really enjoyed Deb at Smitten Kitchen's Crescent Jam and Cheese Cookies that Rachel and I made for the party. These cookies are light and flaky on the outside with a subtle sweetness from the jam. The cheese flavor is not prominent, so even your cheese-hating (yes, these people exist) friends will enjoy these cookies.

Just be prepared to work for their deliciousness. Most brutal is pushing Farmer's Cheese through a fine mesh strainer though a closer runner up is cutting the rolled out dough into 3 x 3 squares (especially if you are a bit OCD like me) and then cleaning up the jellied pans! We had a LOT of ooze going on with our cookies as they baked. Clearly my sealing/rolling technique needs some work...and it will get it next time I make these (in a single batch as instructed below rather than a double)!

Crescent Jam and Cheese Cookies
Reworded from Deb at Smitten Kitchen's adaptation of The Gourmet Cookie Book's recipe
Yields approximately 30 cookies

2 sticks (1 cup) Unsalted Butter, softened
7.5 ounces Farmer Cheese
2 tbsp Sour Cream
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Jam (We mixed it up with some marmalade and raspberry.)
1/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

1. Place butter in a large bowl and cream until smooth. Press cheese through a sieve into creamed butter and stir to combine. Add the sour cream and vanilla, stir again. Whisk together 2 cups of the flour and salt in a separate bowl, then add it gradually to the cheese mixture. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 3 hours (longer is better; you will want it quite firm).
2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Sprinkle your counter with a dusting of flour from the remaining 1/4 cup. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut off 1/4 of it. Return the rest to the fridge, then roll the dough out very thinly on the counter (if you put wax paper on top of it you will prevent the dough from sticking to your rolling pin).
3. Cut the dough into 3-inch squares and put a little less than 1/2 teaspoon jam  in the center of each square. Fold the dough in half on the diagonal, pressing firmly down to seal the two sides around the jam. Roll the triangle into crescents, starting at the wide end. Arrange crescents on a baking sheet (they won’t expand terribly much, so just an inch or so between them is fine) and brush them lightly with milk.
4. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden. Transfer them to a wire rack and sift powder sugar over top of them. Continue making cookies in the same manner until all the dough is used.

• Comes Love by Artie Shaw

 

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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 and themed September. September means many things to me -- my birthday, work deadlines and the arrival of Fall -- but I decided, perhaps predictably, to focus on TV shows as my theme. While I often mention TV here I follow just a few shows, usually with friends, and our informal viewing "parties" are perfect for distributing eats.

Earlier this month True Blood came to a close (what a bad ending!) and Gossip Girl began in Paris, so I made two sets of themed cookies. The Royal Icing was meant to be a just bitten red only somehow almost a full bottle of red food coloring left it merely mauve and at 2 a.m. I had had enough fooling around with it. The icing was too thick for flooding (oops) but worked well for piping; even if my illustration skills are weak I think the concepts for both are clear! And, yes, there is a cookie that states "Tights are not pants." It is a rule to live by people.

If you need (or want) to decorate sugar cookies, I'd recommend the linked recipes. The cookies are easy to make with a very almond flavor and a nice crunch that somehow turned back into a delicious dough-y texture in the fridge, over a few weeks of post-viewing storage and slowed consumption, and the frosting wasn't bad to put together either. Just recognize when you start the project that there is chilling time for the dough, cooling time the cookies and setting time for the frosting, so starting at 8 p.m. the night before you want to serve them...while also making baguettes, making and canning applebutter (two other never before done projects) and watching Can't Buy Me Love...is not wise.

Posts on the other French-themed food for Gossip Girls' Season Premiere will follow later this week!

Thin Mints

To celebrate my friend Danielle's birthday I made her Baking Bites' Thin Minties, as Thin Mints are her favorite cookie. The resulting cookies weren't machine perfect but they were crisp with a hint of mint and the requisite chocolate coating.

I added approximately 3 tablespoons of milk to the batter to make it form cohesive logs and I would recommend adding a bit more mint extract (perhaps to the chocolate coating) to make the mint flavor more prominent. I'd make a recommendation for my biggest issue with the cookies but I have no ideas... The chocolate coating never hardened!

I let the cookies cool completely prior to coating them in the chocolate/butter mixture and ultimately let them sit overnight with wax paper over them. In the morning? They were still soft. I ended up putting wax paper pieces between each one to prevent a mess and ultimately suggesting that Danielle keep them in the fridge, which isn't so bad as Thin Mints always taste good cold.

These were fun to try but I don't think they are worth the effort involved. I'll probably stick to supporting the Girls Scouts (or stealing cookies from others who support the Girls Scouts) when I want Thin Mints in the future. If you live nearby feel free to arrange a visit for a frozen cookie or two in the next few weeks... I have extras in my freezer.

Toasted Coconut Shortbread

I love butter and sugar but shortbread overwhelms me. It tastes good, especially my friend Meg's version, but it sits heavy on my palate, crumbles on my clothes and is mysteriously thick. Don't get me wrong I eat it up like all other desserts. It just has never been my favorite.

This weekend Courtney and Kimberly came over for a baking project. Having narrowed down the desired ingredient to coconut I sent four possible recipes from my bookmarks and these toasted coconut shortbread cookies were chosen. I was wary but this shortbread recipe caused none of my usual complaints. I demolished the cookies I hadn't sent home with them and Britt in a snap.

These cookies are light and crisp yet retain all of the sweet, buttery taste of shortbread. The coconut brings a slightly nutty flavor, but would need to be amped up in the future for me to consider them truly a coconut dessert. If you enjoy shortbread, or perhaps even if you aren't sure, I think these are an excellent choice.

Thanks to my fantastic co-bakers, Courtney, Kimberly and Britt, for their creative cookie cutting (a ski helmet, ski boots, skis, a brontosaurus, a whale, a dachshund, etc.) and for doing most of the work. :)

 

Nanaimo Bars and Graham Crackers

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars (in honor of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver) as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and http://www.nanaimo.ca/. As I don't have dietary restrictions and am on a budget, I did not make the gluten-free graham wafers. You can find a PDF of the information we received (and the recipes) here.

This challenge provided me with a new dessert recipe and the experience of making crackers, which I'll talk about later, but more importantly it reminded me of/made me more aware of the challenges faced by those living with Celiac disease. For Lauren to eat these bars, that she once could pick up at almost any grocery store in Canada, she had to create a recipe to make gluten-free graham crackers and now has to make the crackers and the bars using them in the base every time. As you can see from her blog she handles the challenge her illness provides with grace (and probably eats better than most of us) but is is not something I can imagine dealing with...after all I can't even get myself to eat less sweets, my eternal goal. 

I made this month's challenge in Vika and Rafe's well equipped kitchen Sunday while listening to the Jets game, visiting and taking full advantage of Vika's help and her digital SLR/photography skills. It took about 5 hours, including rest times, to complete both aspects of the challenge. I suspect if my original graham cracker dough hadn't been so dry and crumbly it would have been quicker as my paralyzing fear of failure wouldn't have kicked in and dragged things out. 

I ended up putting the first batch of graham cracker dough in the oven figuring it didn't matter if it was a crumbled, rolled out mess since I was trying to create crumbs. After a consultation with Mom, Vika fixed up the second half of the dough using 3 teaspoons of milk. It made all the difference in the world as you can see below. Both sets of graham crackers were delicious though I was shocked by how sweet a mere 1/3 c. of honey could make them. When I make these in the future, I will definitely continue to leave off the cinnamon-sugar topping as they don't need added sugar. 

The bar portion of the challenge was a breeze in comparision to the graham crackers. My only changes to the Nanaimo bar recipe were substituting vanilla Jello pudding mix for the Bird's custard powder and using at least a half cup less of confectionary sugar for the filling. I cut the nanaimo bars into 1" x 1" cubes as they were so rich. Yet I keep eating them in multiples as they are so delicious so perhaps I could have cut them bigger. I love the creamy buttercream filling's contrast with the crunchy graham cracker-coconut-almond-chocolate base. 

Per Lauren these bars freeze well. I hope that is true as I had to put the remaining bits in the freezer to stop myself from eating them. Fingers crossed on that working. I'd recommend making these and you could even cheat to make the whole process easier by purchasing store bought graham crackers (though I think making them on your own is definitely worth a try). Thanks for a great challenge, Lauren!

The finished bars!

Batter 1



 Batter 2 (Night and day, right?)

Base Layer

Buttercream!

Cutting the Finished Bars

Merry Christmas! My First (and only?!) Gingerbread House

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes. Thanks to Anna and Y for hosting this month's truly challenging project! I chose to use Y's recipe (the second one) as all the ingredients were on hand at my parent's house.

As usual I started this challenge by thoroughly reading the trials and tribulations of other Daring Bakers' and putting myself in a slight panic. Thus my devotion to sorting two movie size packs of Nerds (Thanks to Jarrett for his help with this tedious task) and various other candies by color in preparation rather than moving forward with baking and construction.

My initial plan was to go Gaudi in honor of visiting Spain this year, but when I began rolling the gingerbread at 11 a.m. Christmas Eve that went out the window. Procrastination never wins. As expected from my reading the dough crumbled, but rolling it between wax paper sheets forced it back together and all was well. Or it was well until I carefully cut out the front, back and sides of the house using Martha Stewart's Snow Swept Gingerbread Cottage template and stuck them in the oven only to realize the template lacked a roof! Needless to say I was none to happy and concerned about the likely dough shortage.

Fortunately my Dad was able to create a roof template, there was just enough dough using the scraps and a roof was made. I opted to "glue" the house together with the simple syrup, which Mom kindly made, because it would be quicker. Simple syrup worked like a charm creating a VERY sturdy house, although once something is set crooked it is SET. Sigh. Also, it is pretty dangerous. I burnt my finger, the roof of my mouth (genius!) and got syrup in my hair. This was around the time when I informed Mom that I thought I preferred cooking to baking. :)

The decorative gluing and snow are royal icing, made using the linked recipe and a touch of maple extract to improve the flavor without making the snow look dirty.While tasty the icing was like cement, which is the ultimate goal but not the instant one. My hands are sore today but somehow it all worked out and I was able to present the lovely house below to my family at our annual Christmas Eve gathering at Mom's parents.

My house may not be exactly what I envisioned but it wasn't a bad first try. I haven't decided if I'll tackle this again but maybe by next year I'll have recovered and be up for the challenge again. Gingerbread Houses like those of my fellow Daring Baker's can be beautiful and come in all shapes and sizes. It's hard to fail.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate/celebrated) to you and your loved ones! If something in this entry doesn't make sense, please forgive me. I got a migraine for Christmas, in addition to fun gifts, and it is killing me.

 The finished project!

 Detail Shot

 See? It was very sturdy. 

And I was very sticky.

Y's Recipe: Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga)
from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas 

Ingredients
1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]
1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]
2 tablespoons cinnamon*
4 teaspoons ground ginger*
3 teaspoons ground cloves*
2 teaspoons baking soda*
½ cup boiling water
5 cups all-purpose flour [675g]

Directions
1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour. Mix to make a stiff dough. If necessary add more water, a tablespoon at a time. Chill 2 hours or overnight.
2. Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front walls, gabled walls, chimney and door out of cardboard.
3. Roll the dough out on a large, ungreased baking sheet and place the patterns on the dough. Mark off the various pieces with a knife, but leave the pieces in place.
4. [I rolled out the dough on a floured bench, roughly 1/8 inch thick (which allows for fact that the dough puffs a little when baked), cut required shapes and transferred these to the baking sheet. Any scraps I saved and rerolled at the end.]
5. Preheat the oven to 375'F (190'C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. After baking, again place the pattern on top of the gingerbread and trim the shapes, cutting the edges with a straight-edged knife. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.

*After my reading I halved all of these items. The resulting gingerbread didn't puff up enough to distort and wasn't overly potent to eat. It was a very dry, slightly sweet gingerbread which balanced nicely with the sweets and icing used to decorate.

Simple Syrup

Ingredients
2 cups (400g) sugar

Directions
Place in a small saucepan and heat until just boiling and the sugar dissolves. Dredge or brush the edges of the pieces to glue them together. If the syrup crystallizes, remake it.

Buttermilk Cookies with Lemon Zest and Lemon Glaze

These Buttermilk Cookies with Lemon Zest and Lemon Glaze are a reminder of the lightness and fun of summer, which is perfect as the bitter cold of winter has started here in NYC. They are petite, slightly sweet and full of citrus, especially if you choose to use a full lemon's zest and then add a tablespoon or so of fresh lemon juice to the glaze like I did. What? I didn't like the buttermilk-confectionery sugar glaze. It just tasted too much like sugar paste. The juice made the glaze lighter, more refreshing and the whole project less wasteful. Their texture is almost cake-like but slightly chewy.

I can tell you with confidence that no one minded all that lemon in the least. My co-worker, N, came back for seconds immediately and said they were amazing cookies and he is hard judge. Danielle said they were tasty, Jeff fully approved although he questioned my ability to cook as he always ends up testing sweets, and I ate, well, I don't want to tell you how many, but way too many of the 40 involved in the halved recipe Molly at Orangette provided on her blog adapted from the now closed Gourmet. These cookies make me feel like I really missed something with the whole Gourmet thing. Oh well. 

I can't wait to make these using grapefruit, much to most people's chagrin. I don't care. I'm doing it anyway (as soon as my self-imposed baking ban lifts). They will be delicious. An excellent lesson I learned about buttermilk this year, that enabled me to make these cookies on a whim to deal with dying lemons, is that you can freeze buttermilk! When defrosted and stirred it is as good as new.

Macarons 2 Ways

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe. Macarons were definitely a challenge. After reading and re-reading other people's trials, tribulations, tips and successes I made two batches with pretty good results.

The first batch were plain Almond Macarons with White Chocolate-Blueberry Ganache. I found them overwhelmingly sweet and could only eat one every few hours, which may make this the perfect dessert for me. Nevermind that I spaced the timing out by eating one with breakfast and one after dinner.

I was a little more adventurous with the second batch and attempted to create Coconut-Almond Macarons by processing then drying coconut. The coconut still felt kind of oily, so I didn't add much to the macronage and as as result the flavor was barely there. To make up for it I added the leftover coconut and some coconut extract to the Lime Curd I used for the filling. These macarons were less sweet (yay!), but I need to keep trying fillings as Coconut-Lime Curd was too oozy to hold the shape.

To summarize all the tips for your attempts, the keys to success are supposed to be: aging your egg whites a few days to remove some of the liquid, having them at room temperature, beating the whites to soft peaks adding sugar and beating the mixture to very stiff peaks again before adding the confectionery sugar/almond flour, deflating the mixture satisfactorily and then layering your baking pans and cooking on their bottom side. Be careful with that last step, baking pans are no longer easy to remove from the oven when used upside down.

Once I finish eating the new dozen, which I'm happy to share if you live nearby, I'm all ready to go on a macaron tour of NY to try some professional ones for comparison's sake. Who's in?

Claudia Fleming’s Macarons
(reduced to use 2 egg whites thanks to Audax Artifex…this makes approximately 12 macarons)

Ingredients
.75 cup and 2.5 tspns Confectionery Sugar
.75 cup and 2.5 tspns Almond Flour (I used Trader Joe’s almond meal and sifted a few times)
2.5 tspns Granulated Sugar (superfine/castor is ideal)
2 Egg Whites (room temperature)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Piped and Ready (Batch 1)

Finished without too much sticking to the parchment paper!

The guts! They have feet, which is another sign of some success.
A trio of super-sweet treats!Batch 2

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars i.e. Twix

I saw this homemade Chocolate Caramel Shortbread a month ago and vowed to make it after Spain and once I had people to share the bars with... After all I love Twix and the recipe looked pretty simple. Last Tuesday I decided Carielle's Friday birthday gathering would be the perfect opportunity.

It should have been easy. Shortbread is a cake walk with the mini-food processor. Melting chocolate, even in the microwave like I did, is a no brainer. And I've made caramel before with success. Unfortunately this recipe had me cursing the stove (the first time in 3 years my rooommate has ever heard this happen apparently).

For reasons I can't determine my caramel went very wrong; it was a bubbling mass topped with separated butter that greased my entire oven top while I frantically tried to get the whole thing to congeal into a usable state. In the end I poured off the butter and managed to salvage a tasty, though slightly overchewy, mass of caramel for the bars. Not ideal.

Luckily the bars still tasted decadent and delicious, especially if I let them come to room temperature for about 4 hours. When I revisit the recipe I plan to sub a different caramel recipe for layer 2 - a normal one that uses a candy thermometer. These bars are worth a try but be cautious. If you figure out how to NOT screw up the caramel please let me know and, oh, don't cut the bars until they are room temperature or the chocolate will crack.

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread (from the same blog but not the one she made)
Makes 12

½ cup butter, plus extra for greasing
Generous 1 cup all purpose flour
Generous ¼ cup superfine sugar

Filling and topping
¾ cup butter
Generous ½ cup superfine sugar
3 tbsp dark corn syrup
14 oz/400 g canned sweetened condensed milk
7 oz/200 g semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease a 9-inch/23-cm square, shallow cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Place the butter, flour, and sugar in a food processor and process until it starts to bind together. Press into the prepared pan and level the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Place the butter, sugar, corn syrup, and condensed milk in a heavy-bottom saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 6-8 minutes, stirring until very thick. Pour over the shortbread and let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or until firm.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan of gently simmering water and stir until melted. Let cool slightly, then spread over the caramel. Let chill In the refrigerator for 2 hours, or until set. Cut the shortbread into 12 pieces and serve.

Thumbprint Cookies

While I slept regular, grown-up hours in the Caribbean, my sleep schedule has been all over the place since my return. Case in point, the week before last I felt inspired at 10:00p to make cookies for Administrative Professionals Day. Since I had all the ingredients handy for thumbprint cookies (a.k.a. Veronas), I went for it.

The best part is after staying up late making the cookies, I hid them at my desk all day and didn't give them to our Administrative Professionals because I didn't like how they looked. They weren't uniform and, frankly, reminded me of breasts. Finally at 4:00p I realized I had to put them out or I would be eating oh 30 cookies by myself. As usual my worries were for naught. They were a hit with my co-workers still at work and at our committee meeting that night.

I followed the recipe except I accidentally included the egg whites. The cookies probably would have been more crisp and flat without them, but the mistake didn't effect the tastiness of the cookies. The soft and buttery shortbread was perked up nicely by the strawberry jam center. I chose to omit the nuts.

I'd consider making these again, if I can be less of a perfectionist and/or can figure out a way to make the proportions better.

Homeade Oreos

The lovely and bubbly Louise is moving back to London, which is definitely New York's loss. For this occasion I was willing to watch The Bachelor's season finale (What a dick! I hate boys!) and naturally offered to bring something. With no suggestions, I recalled that Louise liked chocolate and found a recipe for homeade oreos.

These cookies are delicious, but pretty darn sweet, especially when you can't resist eating another and another and another... I love the chocolate cookie; you can feel the crispness of crystallized sugar when chewing. The filling's consistency is dead on with a regular Oreo, but with a much better vanilla flavor and less waxy aftertaste.

I followed the suggestion for decreasing the cookies' sugar and might even try taking more out next time. My other alterations were using Spectrum's Organic Vegetable Shortening, which is trans fat free and not hydrogenated, and using vanilla bean paste instead of extract. The paste substitution made the filling have the cutest brown specks. These will definitely be made again. Maybe for the holidays next year instead of caramels, marshmallows AND cookies?


"Brilliant! This falls right into my “why buy it when i can make it for twice the cost and 20 times the work” ethic." 2007 comment on the linked recipe describing my mentality perfectly. ;)