Glazed Lemon Cookies

Next week I will be officially living in my new house. We have been busy painting and getting it ready to move into and that’s why I’ve been a little absent. I can’t tell you how excited I am to get into my new kitchen and start cooking up great things for this blog. Thanks for bearing with me while I’ve been a little distracted with life.

I made these for my husband to take into work. Back when he started a few months ago, I had made snicker cookies and one of his news bureau’s heard about those cookies and wished they had some too. I can’t let anyone down, so I had to make them something. I wanted to make something with a little zing and freshness that spring/summer offers. I remembered I had bookmarked lemon cookies awhile back and knew that was what I had to make. These glazed lemon cookies are really good. They are small and full of lemon flavor. When my son saw I was making these he asked if he was going to be able to have some. Thankfully this recipe yields about 3 dozen cookies so I had plenty for him to have. He loves lemons and will eat them as I cut them. His review: Two thumbs up.

 

Glazed Lemon Cookies:

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon zest
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 4-5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  1. Preheat the oven to 35o degrees F. Line two baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
  2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk and set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, add granulated sugar and lemon zest. Rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers, until fragrant.
  4. Beat butter and sugar/lemon mixture together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
  5. Slowly beat in flour mixture on low speed until blended. Drop dough by tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Gently flatten dough with the palm of your hand.
  6. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are just set and slightly golden brown. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes and transfer to cooking racks. Cool completely.
  7. In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice. Dip each cookie top into the lemon glaze. Let cookies sit until icing has set.

Peanut Butter Snicker Cookies

My husband officially started his new job a few weeks ago. I wanted him to go in on his first day with cookies. How could anyone be worried about their new boss when he comes bringing cookies? I had it all planned out, I was going to be making oreo stuffed cookies. But the day I was going to the store to get all the ingredients, this recipe appeared on my Google Reader feed. I knew right then and there this was what I’d be making for him. The recipe calls for the new Snickers Peanut Butter squares. Sadly, my store was all sold out except for 1 lonely package. I bought it and got the rest in regular snickers. They turned out great having a nice mix between the two snickers. My husband tells me they got rave reviews and I have set the bar high for myself. I look forward to baking them all sorts of things once the kids and I get over there this summer.

Peanut Butter Snicker Cookies:

*Makes about 24

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped Snickers Peanut Butter squares or Snickers candy bars  (4 regular size bars)
  • 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the milk and the vanilla extract and mix again.
  4. Add the flour mixture and beat until flour disappears. Stir in the chopped Snickers and chocolate chips.
  5. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. (I weighed mine out to about 2 ounces of dough per cookie.) Gently flatten each cookie ball with the palm of your hand. Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until cookies are slightly brown on the edges.
  6. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for about 5 to 10 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Butterscotch Chip Cookies

I made these cookies for one of my very best friends. She lives in Omaha and has been a smoker for a very long time. She decided it was time to quit and for several months she has been smoke free. I’m extremely proud of Kiki and asked her what kind of cookies she is craving. She gave me a list of cookies but the one that topped her list was Butterscotch Chip.

So, I began my search for the best recipe I could find. I’ve never made them before so it was kinda new territory for me. But I figured it wouldn’t be much different than chocolate chips cookies. I didn’t want to substitute butterscotch chips in a regular chocolate chip cookie, I wanted the butterscotch flavor to come through. One of the other things Kiki mentioned was a cookie from an old family recipe, she remembered it had rice cereal, coconut and whole bunch of other things. As I was searching I found a recipe that included butterscotch instant pudding and rice cereal, score! It did call for chocolate chips, but this time substituting them for butterscotch would work since there is butterscotch pudding to help enhance that flavor. As I was making the cookies, I realized that the brown sugar I had was as hard as a brick, but I did have Splenda brown sugar. Thankfully that worked out really nice and I ended up with a low sugar cookie that tastes amazing!

Kiki says the cookies tasted great and that they shipped well.

Butterscotch Chip Cookies:

  • 1 1/2 c flour
  • 1 c whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 c  sugar
  • 1 1/4 c brown sugar or 1/2 cup plus 2 tbs Splenda brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, room temp
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 c butter flavored shortening
  • 1 pkg butterscotch-flavored sugar free instant pudding mix
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 1 1/2 c rice cereal
  • 1 1/2 – 2 c butterscotch chips
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the sugars using a fork to break up any lumps in the brown sugar. Set aside.
  4. In yet another small bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla, milk and nutmeg, on high until light and fluffy.
  5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the shortening until it’s fluffy. Add half of the sugar and beat until incorporated, then add the second half. Beat on high until grainy, about 3 minutes. Add in the pudding mix and beat until combined.
  6. Pour in half of the egg mixture and beat until incorporated. Repeat with the second half, being sure to scrape the bowl. Drizzle in the honey and beat until fluffy.
  7. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and repeat, adding the rest of the dry ingredients in two portions. Gently fold in the oats and chocolate chips.
  8. Portion dough into approximately 1/4 c balls (or use a 1 3/4 oz disher) and place on baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. Transfer sheets to cooling racks and allow cookies to cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

Source: Slightly adapted from Whisk-Kid

Onesie Sugar Cookies

I had been planning on making these onesie sugar cookies as soon as my sister-in-law said she was pregnant. I knew they would make the perfect party favor for everyone to take home from the shower. Making decorative sugar cookies takes time and devotion. You just can’t roll, cut, bake and decorate in one day. It takes a lot planning ahead of time. I had never made 55 cookies at one time before so I was unsure how much time I needed. I spent roughly 9 hours working on the cookies. That is from beginning to end. Knowing this, I’ll be able to plan even better for the next time I have to make so many.

One of my biggest set backs while making the cookies was the first batch I was trying to roll out. The darn cookies wouldn’t come together. They kept crumbling even though I kneaded and kneaded them like crazy. I went back to review the recipe and found I did a few things wrong. First, I didn’t cream the butter and sugar long enough. As I was kneading the cookies I could feel a lot of grit on my fingers, that tells me the creaming wasn’t done properly. Second, the original recipe calls for at least 1 tsp of vanilla and I was using half that. Once I creamed the butter and sugar better and added more vanilla, the rest of the batches worked out great.

The most fun I had was trying to figure out patterns and designs for the cookies. I wanted them all to be different and unique in their own way.

Polka dots are so much fun. I work with 6 cookies at a time. After all the cookies are outlined with the stiffer icing, it’s time to flood. Thinned out royal icing is what you use to “flood” the cookies. Once you have 6 cookies flooded, go back to the first one; take another color of thinned icing and put one drop of that on the already wet cookie. The drop will blend into the icing. Continue to do that till you have it like you want.

Accidents happen and when they do you just go with the flow. That’s what I did with the cookie in the upper right. My original plan was a polka dot cookie, but the last drop I did had a tail on it. There was no way I could leave it that way. I took a toothpick and connected all the dots by dragging the toothpick to each dot. I used the same method to make the hearts. I dropped 5 drops of pink thinned icing on the white cookie and dragged a toothpick down to create those hearts you see on the cookie in the lower left corner.

I’m still working on the writing part. Not quite happy with how some of the ones I wrote on turned out. But as I tell my kids, practice makes perfect.

Sugar Cookies:

  • 3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 c sugar
  • 2 sticks cold butter, cut into cubes
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.
  3. Roll onto a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

 

Royal Icing:

  • 4 TBSP meringue powder
  • scant 1/2 c. water
  • 1 lb. powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp light corn syrup
  • few drops clear extract (I use almond extract)
  1. Combine the meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy.
  2. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!)
  3. Add in the corn syrup and extract.
  4. Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form.
  5. Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing or divide and color using gel paste food colorings.

Source: Cookies Bake at 350 Royal Icing and Techniques Bake at 350

 

 

Football Food Roundup

This week a lot of people are excited about the game, I am not one of those people. My beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t even make the playoffs, even though they had a better record than Seattle. But I promise to not go off into a tangent. As much as I love football and hate this time of year when it’s almost done, I just don’t like the two teams playing. I have many loved ones who are huge Steelers fans and being here in PA it’s a bit hard for me. I’m just ready for the weekend to be over and a new season to begin. Till then, people are going to be planning their big parties and they need some food. That’s where I can help. I have a great list of recipes for anyone planning a party to watch the game (or the commercials).

Dips:

Finger Foods/Sides:

Main Dish:

Dessert:

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

I made these yesterday and there was no way I could wait to share it with you. I’ve been wanting to make PB&J bars for awhile now but I was looking for the right recipe. For Christmas, I got three awesome new cookbooks. One of them is the America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook. I have the regular one and thought the healthy would make a great addition. Man, was I right! The recipes in the cookbook are fantastic! They did a great job at lowering fat and calories on a lot of popular dishes. The PB&J bars have less butter which cut down on the fat. As I was making them I was getting excited, everything was looking really good and smelling even better. It made the whole house smell like one big PB&J sandwich.

I regret only one thing…Not making a double batch! From now on I will be doubling the recipe and baking them in a 9×13 dish instead of an 8×8. When you make these, I recommend you do the same.

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars:

  • 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 tbs unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup salted dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup raspberry jam (I used sugar free )
  1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, with enough overhang to be able to lift the bars out when cooked. Lightly coat the foil with vegetable oil spray. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
  2. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter together using an electric mixer on medium speed until uniform and creamy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the egg, followed by the peanut butter and vanilla, until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until just incorporated, about 30 seconds.
  3. Reserve half of the dough for the topping. Using damp hands, press the remaining dough evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake until the crust is light golden, about 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Meanwhile, stir the peanuts into the reserved dough for the topping.
  4. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and spread the jam evenly over the hot crust, leaving a 1/2 inch border on all sides. Drop small pieces of the topping evenly over the top. Bake the bars until the jam is bubbling and the topping is golden, about 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
  5. Let the bars cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack, about 2 hours. Remove the bars from the pan using the foil, cut into 16 squares, and serve.

Source: America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

Oreo Truffles

I’m going to be super busy the next couple days. My parents and brother will be here on Thursday. If I don’t have the sugar cookies done, I will be grounded. Why is it your parents still scare you even after you are all grown up and moved away? I wanted to get one more recipe out to you before I head back in the kitchen and slave away on a few more desserts.

I saw these Oreo Truffles the other day and got so excited about them. Oreo cookies, Cream Cheese and melted chocolate, what could go wrong? Well, let me tell you! Processing the cookies and cream cheese gave me no troubles. It was the melted chocolate and dipping those darn Oreo truffles into it. Every which way I tried would not work. I did not want a huge pool of chocolate on the bottom of each truffle. I finally decided to take my clean hands and go straight for the chocolate. With tons of melted chocolate on my hands I took the Oreo truffle and gently rolled them around so they would have chocolate all over. It was very messy and I was really wishing I had latex free gloves to use. I think the chocolate would work better with the gloves. Later that night, I realized a toothpick inserted into a truffle would probably have worked. It would allow the chocolate to drip nicely off the Oreo truffle. I’ll save that for next time.

After letting them sit and harden, I finally tried one. Everything I had been feeling earlier about the truffles melted away. They were amazing! It was worth all the swearing.

Mom, I’m done and will go work on the sugar cookies.

Oreo Truffles:

  • 1 Package Oreo Cookies
  • 8 oz Cream Cheese
  • 2 bags Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • 12 oz good-quality white chocolate, chopped (optional)
  • red and green food coloring (optional)
  1. Add Oreos and cream cheese to food processor. Pulse 2-3 minutes until sticky and shiny.
  2. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more to harden.
  3. Roll into 1-inch balls. Refrigerate till chocolate is ready.
  4. Stir the semi-sweet chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts.
  5. Coat Oreo balls in chocolate, place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  6. If using… Melt white chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Transfer to two bowls.
  7. Add the green food coloring to one of the bowls with the white chocolate. Use as much as you like to get the color you want. Do the same for the red food coloring. Drizzle over the truffles.
  8. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Source: slightly adapted from The Culinary Couple