Easter Lemon-y Sugar Cookies

My baby cousin, Billy (I can call him my baby cousin because my mom watched him when he was just a baby --sorry Bill!  ;)  ), is serving in the Air Force and will be away from the family for Easter this year.  My aunt wanted to make sure he had a nice care package before the holiday so she called to see if I could help out by making 5 dozen cookies.  Of course, sugar cookies had to be on the list and I decided that I would try my hand at decorating with royal icing instead of my traditional vanilla buttercream to keep them from getting smashed in the mail.  I think I need a bit more practice (who better to practice on than family) but I think a few of these turned out really cute!  It took a lot of will power to not eat all of these.  I know he and his fellow airman/and ladies will enjoy these.

This is my 'go to' sugar cookie these days.  I really like it.  It's sugary, and lemon-y and the perfect combination of crunch and chew.  I've tried several over the years, but I always come back to this one.

Send some cookies to someone you love!

Love ya, Billy!  Thank you for serving our country!  xo

Lemon-y Sugar Cutout Cookies

Recipe derived from: "Fabulous Cookies" by Hilaire Walden

¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temp

1 ¼ cups sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest of one lemon

Pinch of salt

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

Directions:

1.        In a mixing bowl, cream the butter. Then add the sugar and cream until pale and fluffy.

2.       Add the egg and yolk, one at a time. Then add the vanilla and zest.

3.       Sift the flour and salt mixture and add slowly with the mixer running. Be careful not to over mix. Only mix until the flour is just incorporated.
4.  Decorate as desired!  

Nursery Rhyme Birthday Party

I normally don't post specifically about events but since this was a pretty significant event in MY life, I decided it was just too big not to post about it.

I remember talking to my neighbor about the first birthday celebration when I was pregnant.  Our conversation is still so vivid in my mind.  She said, "Your life changes so much after having a child, you change, your marriage changes, everything changes.  The first birthday is a big deal because it's a celebration for BOTH of you.  It's a celebration that you BOTH made it through."  I probably would have never understood that before I had a baby.  But now I do.

It IS life changing.  This year has been full of changes.  But all fun, and good.  I love being a mom more than I ever thought possible.  And I really wanted to throw a party that celebrated all of these changes.  This certainly was one BIG celebration!

I decided I wanted to do nursery rhymes for a few reasons.  My daughter LOVES books and her room is actually decorated in vintage mother goose.  Finding things to go with a Mother Goose theme at the store? Forget it.

Luckily, I started several months in advance just scoping out ideas online and what invitations I wanted to use.  I made all the invitations myself tying in nursery rhyme sayings (buying the printed cardstock online).  I also purchased fabric online and had my seamstress sew a quick hem on them (I would have done this myself but being sick with bronchitis and a baby with croup for the weeks leading up the event prevented the time to do this!)

I made homemade banners by buying the program on Etsy. I just added the letters I wanted and printed on cream colored cardstock from Michael's.  I printed 3 large and 1 small banner and glued them onto ribbon I found at Costco with a glue gun

I found humpty dumpty balloons online along with a star for "Twinkle twinkle little star...".  I also found little nursery rhyme books in the fall at Target.  Each of these had little book mark tags (also found on Etsy) which were personalized with a little saying of "Thank you for attending my birthday party..."










I bought flowers from Costco, roses, for the "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue" rhyme.  I bought 4 tiny violet plants, too.  I cut the roses short and put them in green foam in small square vases, then wrapped them with ribbon.  The violet plants were also wrapped in ribbon.  I then wrote a little rhyme on cardstock that said "Roses are red, violets are blue.  Giuliana is one, and beautiful too."

I also bought bulb flowers in terra-cotta pots.  I painted them white and wrapped them in ribbon, too.  A card sat next to each plant that said, "Mary Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?"















I also put little pint sized waters in a large silver pail wrapped in ribbon and a card that said "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water".  The wine had, of course, another saying that incorporated wine.

Of course there were Three blind mice cheese and crackers and Mary Mary quite contrary garden veggie tray.

BUT.....
The real star of the show was naturally the dessert table.  Here is a list of a few things:


Little Bo Peep Lost her Sheep Cupcakes--vanilla bean cakes with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream.


Ba Ba Black Sheep cupcakes -- chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache whipped frosting.






Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater pumpkin cupcakes-- pumpkin cupcakes with mascarpone whipped frosting.  For the recipe, click here.

This little piggy went to the market cupcakes-- strawberry cupcakes with raspberry swiss meringue buttercream.

That's what girls are made of, sugar and spice and everything nice cookies -- Egg nog snickerdoodles

And a random assortment of other goodies:

-Godiva inspired cupcakes:  Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache whipped frosting, some with Italian meringue in both vanilla and raspberry.

-Confetti cupcakes with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream

-Dorie's Chocolate chip cookies, for the recipe click here.

-Dorie's World peace cookies, for the recipe click here.

- Martha's peanut butter cups, for the recipe click here.

-Berry crunch bars, recipe from Magnolia bakery.

And FINALLY-the CAKE.  I signed up for a class at Michael's--the month of her party.  Unfortunately the class was delayed a few weeks in the month so I only had 2 intro classes on how to work with fondant and gum paste.  Luckily, it was just enough and between that and You Tube, I was able to successfully cover my cake in fondant.

The cake was a 2 layer cake, all revolving around a nursery rhyme.  I was flying by the seat of my pants while doing this and did rhymes I could think of at the top of my head.  I made my own fondant the week of the party (one batch) but it was white and I didn't want the hassle of dying it so I ended up buying everything from a local cake store.

The bottom layer was an 8-inch chocolate cake, filled with raspberry Italian meringue buttercream then frosted with Swiss meringue buttercream.

The top later was a 6 inch banana cake filled and frosted with Swiss meringue buttercream.  I actually went out to BUY a 6 inch cake pan but the two stores I went to did not carry them, so I ended up baking this in 2 8-inch pans and cutting it down an inch on each side (I saved the scraps in the freezer for a trifle)

I covered the bottom later in purple fondant, and the top in baby blue fondant.

Can you guess all the nursery rhymes on the cake?

Patty cake, "Patty cake baker's man".....pat it with a "G" for baby and me.  My daughter's name is Giuliana so instead of "B" for baby...it's G.  I also had a star for "Twinkle Twinkle", "Little bo peep lost her sheep", "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick", "Queen of Hearts", "Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon and the dish ran away with the spoon", "Humpty Dumpty", "Hickory Dickory Dock", "Mary Mary quite contrary.."

Most of the shapes were cut out free hand (much thanks to all the clay design classes I took in high school!) and cookie cutters (I have about 1,000) no-joke).  Never in my life did I think I would use the mouse cookie cutter...but I now have a new use.

I will post new recipes on a separate post so they are easy to find in the blog roll.

The party was SO much fun!  Overall I think I had 150 cupcakes!  I had little 'to go' cupcake boxes assembled so everyone could take some home as a party favor.  I mean...who doesn't like a cupcake??

You know what they say.... "A cupcake a day keeps the doctor away".

What?  They don't say that?  Huh...well they should!

Always keep it sweet.

Cafe Coco

Chocolate Oatmeal Lactation Cookies

I think these cookies speak for themselves.

A friend recommended these to me after I gave birth to my baby girl in February. I think they work, although they aren't proven, I will use any excuse to eat a baked good.

The great thing about these cookies is that you can exchange many of the ingredients. I like to add chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, cinnamon and walnuts. You can certainly add any dried fruits or any kind of nut that you like. I think they taste a bit like the cake doughnuts I get at the cider mill--it's probably the cinnamon I put in them.

And don't worry--these aren't just for nursing mothers! My husband and father in law equally enjoy them!













The key to the cookies: Brewers yeast, Oatmeal, and Flaxseed Meal. I had a hard time finding the brewers yeast. You can find it in the vitamin section of Whole Foods. I would imagine any health food store would carry it also.













For the recipe, click here.

Alterations: 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

Crunchy Chocolate Malt Cookies and a TWD Ice Cream Re-visit

I’ve been holding onto this recipe for awhile. I love the taste of malt as does my husband so when I found this recipe from a fellow blogger at Cooking During Stolen Moments, I knew I had to try it!

I didn’t follow the recipe exactly because I didn’t have a chocolate malt or Ovaltine (which reminds me…I need to buy some because who on earth doesn’t like Ovaltine!) . Instead, I used a plain malted milk powder, and combined cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor. Then I added crushed whoppers for some added texture and crunch.

I thought these cookies would go perfectly with Dorie’s ice cream I posted earlier this week so I was really excited to get started.

I normally have great success with cookies, and I am not sure what happened. Out of the oven, they were crispy on the outside, and very chewy on the inside (similar to a molasses cookie). Once cooled, they were very thin and very crispy (not at all chewy). Paired with the ice cream, they tasted very much like a waffle cone! So it’s not to say they were bad, they weren’t. But they weren’t what I expected, anticipated, hoped for.

Again, I blame myself for the flop. First, I realized, I added too much brown sugar (which I'm thinking is the culprate for the over crunch-less chewy cookie). It’s also possible my oven is too hot and I baked them too long, or it could be my change of ingredients because her cookies look simply divine: soft, chewy…my mouth waters every time I look at them! I think popping these in the refrigerator could help a bit too with the spreading.

I guess it’s back to the drawing board for me….and possibly a trip to the store for Ovaltine!
If you like a crunchy cookie, you’ll love this version, if not…head over to Kate’s page and try her soft and chewy version.

Crispy Chocolate Malt Cookies
Recipe derived from Kate at Cooking During Stolen Moments

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (I would only put 1/4 cup if you want these to be chewy--this was my mistake adding more by grabbing the wrong measuring cup! oops!)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups AP flour
¾ cups malted milk powder
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups Whoppers, roughly chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, malted milk powder, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Then add eggs, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture with the mixer on low. Mix only until just incorporated. Then fold in whopper pieces with a spatula. Spoon heaping tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or wax paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

For other great malt recipes check these out:

Malted Whopper Cookies

Malted Milkshake with Whoppers

Chocolate Chip Cookies with White Chocolate and Dried Cherries

I made these cookies for a friend of ours whose mother passed last week. I was trying to come up with something to say how very sorry I was about her loss….but the words just wouldn’t come together. I mean…are there really any words?

The truth is, I’m not really good with words. I cook…I bake and that’s how I communicate how I feel towards my family… ‘I love you’, ‘I care about you’…. ‘I’m proud of you’…and ‘I’m sorry’. Then I knew the only way I could show how much I cared, was to bake.

Then I started thinking of myself…and my relationship with my mother growing up. She didn’t bake much, but when she did, it was special. She made just the basic things, and chocolate chip cookies were one of them. Strangely, I didn’t like chocolate as a child (gasp—I know…crazy considering I would move mountains just to have it) but she would always be sure to make a few of the chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate…just for me.

So when I think of ultimate comfort and memories with my own mother, I think of those really cherished moments I spent watching her bake….and the special cookies she would make just for me.

I sought out one of Dorie’s recipes, because I was sure it would be a hit. (PLUS- I'm in TWD and that book is ALWAYS on my counter! What would you expect???)

I even added my BEST ingredients: my cherished fleur de sel, good gourmet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, dried cherries, powdered vanilla, and an extra splash of my homemade vanilla extract.

The end result? Amazing cookies. Hands down, one of my favorite chocolate chip cookies. Soft, chewy, and full of flavor. The Fleur de Sel makes them I think...but the rest of the ingredients aren't too shabby!!

So bake away….it shows you care ;)

“My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies”
Recipe derived from: “Baking From My Home to Yours” by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:
2 1/8 cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoon fleur de sel sea salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup dried cherries, chopped


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, line two baking sheets with silicone mats (use parchment if you don’t have silicone mats).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and vanilla powder. Set aside.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or hand mixer), beat butter until creamy. Add both sugars and beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes until fluffy. Add vanilla then eggs one at a time letting them fully incorporate after each addition. Put the mixer on low and gradually add the flour mixture just until it’s mixed in. Fold in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and dried cherries with a rubber spatula.

Using a cookie spoon or rounded tablespoon to form dough into little balls then place onto the cookie sheet. Space them about 2 inches apart. Bake about 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool down for about a minute then remove with a spatula and cool on a cooling rack. Be sure to cool the baking sheets in between batches!

For best results: Refrigerate the dough for an hour before baking. They seem to spread less.

Black Currant Shortbread Bars and the Virtual Great American Bake Sale!

I am so completely honored to participate in the Share our Strength’s Virtual Great American Bake Sale!

Kate from Cooking from Stolen Moments contacted me last month asking me (yes, little me) to participate, and I couldn’t feel more privileged.

If any of you are fond watchers of the Food Network, there is a big possibility you have seen the commercials promoting this great cause to see that no child goes hungry. But as Kate told me, this will be the first ever VIRTUAL bake sale. How cool is that? It’s amazing what the blogosphere can do.

The first Virtual Great American Bake Sale starts April 13 and 100% of the proceeds go directly to Share our Strength! Be sure to check it out, so that we can do our part to see that no child ever goes hungry.

Now to the cookies!

These shortbread cookies just are a feel good cookie, and certainly not lacking in the butter department.

I can remember the first time I had a shortbread bar, it was lemon. I didn't like lemon, but somehow, it converted me in an instant. I polished off all 6 bars and walked away from the plate in utter embarrassement. I lost all self control.

These bars, I can't say will be any different. Their good. Darn good.

You want to know the worst part? It tests my dearest patience just waiting for these to cool. Because you HAVE to wait for then to cool COMPLETELY (yes I mean completely folks) before you remove them from the pan. Unless you like a gooey mess, and in that case, by all means...eat them out of the oven. But don't say I didnt warn you when you get that similar to pizza burn at the roof of your mouth.

Oh yea...these cookies are serious business.

Don't let the "black currant" fancy pants name scare you off. These babies can be made with ANY jam you have.

Black Currant Shortbread Bars
Recipe derived from Fine Cooking

Ingredients:
2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (10 ½ oz) of unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2 egg yolks
3 cups plus 3 tablespoons (14 ¼ oz.) all purpose flour
2 cups Black currant preserves (or you could use raspberry, cherry etc.)

Directions:
Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil, be sure to leave and overhang. This will allow you to remove the cookies with ease when they are completed.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the butter, ¾ cups of sugar (leave the other ¼ cup for later), and salt. Add the egg yolks. Mix well. Then, switch to a rubber spatula and add the flour and mix just until combined. Transfer about 2 cups or (3/4 of the dough) to the pan and spread evenly. Refrigerate the dough to stiffen for 30 minutes. Preheat oven the 325 degrees F.

This isnt a 9x13 pan...forget you saw this photo.

This is what the foil should look like.

Remove dough from refrigerator, prick dough with a fork a few times. Bake the dough on the center rack in the oven for about 20 minutes. You don’t want the crust to brown, it should stay pretty light in color and won’t be completely firm in the middle. This is ok because you will be putting this back in the oven later.

Meanwhile, with the remainder of the dough, mix in the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Set aside.

Pull shortbread out of the oven and top with jam. Spread evenly. Top with the crumb mixture. You don’t want to break the crumbs up too much because they will spread during the cooking process, and you want to have some larger crumbs.

Increase the temperature to 350 degrees F and put the pan back in the oven, on the top 3rd rack of the oven for 25 minutes longer. This will allow the top of the crumbs to brown while allowing the bottom of the cookie mixture not to brown.
Remove pan from oven once crust is golden brown and place on a wire cooling rack. Do not attempt to remove the bars until completely cooled (about an hour). Once cooled, remove the bars by pulling up from the aluminum foil and slice into 2x2 inch pieces. Store in an airtight container.

TWD Rewind: Malted Whopper Cookies!

I had to rewind TWD….all the way to September 2008.

You see….my husband LOVES malted anything. Malted ice cream to be specific. So when I was leafing through “Baking From My Home to Yours” for my Coconut Butter Thins, I found these Malted Whopper Cookies and decided…I HAD to make BOTH cookies.

These cookies are chewy…but have that crunch of the cooked whoppers in the cookies. The texture is amazing…and the taste is amazing.

Pair these up with some milk….pure heaven.

I didn’t eat these for breakfast. Nuh – uh. Nope.

Just call me Veruca Salt.

Want the recipe? Visit TWD’s host from way back when, Rachel from Confessions of a Tangerine Tart to get it!

TWD: Coconut Butter Thins

Its TWD time again, and this week we are ringing in Tuesday with cookies. Coconut butter thins to be exact!

I was really pleased with these cookies, mainly because they are so different with their unique flavors of lime zest, dried coriander, macadamia nut, and coconut. They weren’t quite what I expected (I think I expected these to be more of a shortbread) but I love them because they were really chewy and moist.

I liked the “roll out in a Ziploc bag” trick! Honestly, I love making roll out cookies but I HATE cleaning up the mess. This made it so easy. I was a tad surprised when I checked on these in the oven to find that these had spread out…I mean REALLY spread. But, then again they are butter ‘thins’.

I thought these were the ultimate spring cookie or would also be great for a Hawaian themed party, so I am sure I will be making these again very soon!

Thanks Jayne of the Barefoot Kitchen Witch for Hosting TWD this week! Check out Jayne’s page if you would like the recipe to these delightful cookies!

I know some of the other bakers are probably doing some fun variations, as they always do so be sure to check out Dorie’s blogroll!

I measured mine...

Cut them nice and neat...

TWD: Caramel Crunch Bars

It’s TWD again and it’s time for Caramel Crunch bars hosted by Whitney of What’s Left on the Table. These are from pages 112-113 from Dorie Greenspan's, "Baking From My Home to Yours"

I am pleased with myself this month because I participated in TWD every single week! Next month is 5 Tuesdays and as I enter my second session of Wilton, we will see what happens!

I decided to make these bars: one because I love a good shortbread, and two they just looked fun to pair them with ice cream. Fortunately to for me, these were rather easy. Easy enough to START baking these…Tuesday morning. Actually I was dealing with a whole other cake crisis so anyone requesting something from me can just take a number. LOL. (Whoa…testy—I think I need a piece of cake)

I altered the bars by adding toasted slivered almonds because I didn’t have heath, the closest store near my house didn’t have them and I wasn’t bearing the sub zero temps in the middle of a cake crisis to search further…as that would have sent this girl to the nut house!

I am not sure if it was just my bars, but they seemed not crunchy enough meaning they had the consistency that I didn’t cook them long enough? Not sure if anyone else had that problem or if that is the way they are supposed to be (I even cooked them a few extra minutes).

Regardless of my uncertainty of what they were supposed to be, I really enjoyed them. I love shortbread, probably because I am a big fan of butter. ;) . I thought the almond topping added great flavor and a nice crunch.

I made espresso ice cream the other day so I figured it would be a great accompaniment to the bars. So sinful, yet so good! One bite. That. Is. All. I’m. Allowed. Why? Because…these aren’t figure friendly! Sorry…this girl is on Vacation next week and I still need to fit into my spring-ish clothes.

Thank you Whitney for hosting this truly delectable treat this week!

Check out how the other bakers did by clicking on Tuesday with Dorie’s blogroll.

I’m off to frost this fix a cake disaster….ciao.

TWD: World Peace Cookies

This week’s TWD is hosted by Jessica of Cookbook habit. If you would like to see the recipe for these great World Peace Cookies, be sure to wander over to her page to check it out! OR of course you can always purchase Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking From My Home to Yours.

I have only been cooking with TWD since November but I have to say, this is without a doubt, my favorite recipe thus far. In fact, these are THE best cookies I have ever eaten (ditto for my hubs who tells me this as he stuffs 2 cookies in his mouth ). To think I even considered cutting the recipe in half.....I swear it was only a split second of insanity until I came to my senses. I'm much better now, I swear.

What I love best about these cookies is the sweet/salty taste. I used sea salt instead of the fleur de sel because it was $12.99 at my local gourmet grocery store and I just couldn’t stomach spending that on a small container of ‘salt’. I don’t think it affected the taste since I thought these were SO wonderful.

I can’t put my finger on what these cookies remind me of, but I’m thinking they are very much like a very chocolate-y brownie in flavor, but not really the cakey texture. These just melt in your mouth like a butter cookie….only these are LOADED with chocolate.

What is NOT to love about this cookie!?

I didn’t have any problems with the cookies crumbling while slicing like I saw on the Q&A but I did take one of the other bakers advice and froze mine first. I will say….these were an absolute BEAR to slice when frozen.... and I had a sharp knife!

Had I not been part of this group, I may have never considered making these. (I think I told you I am a total visual person, meaning I make things based on the pictures that accompany a recipe). Good thing the directions from the book are absolutely perfect, and I wouldn’t change a thing about these cookies. These will TOTALLY be part of my cookie repertoire for years to come. Thanks so much Dorie for sharing!

TWD: Grandma's Sugar Cookies

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means! It’s another Tuesdays with Dorie! Ulrike from Küchenlatein hosted Grandmas Sugar Cookies from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From my Home to Yours on December 9. So if you would like the recipe, please visit their page!

Yes, I am doing TWD OUT of order this month!

I swear…these weeks have FLOWN by leading up to Christmas. I am up to my earlobes in gifts, baking, and tasks to do! But, I managed to make these sugar cookies with my nephews, as well as saving the other half of dough in the freezer for a couple weeks for my cookie day with my sister yesterday. Don't ask me how I manage...I may order a nice straight jacket for myself for Christmas.

I will have the official verdict on these sugar cookies, after the holiday as I plan on doing a blind taste test. I happen to have a favorite sugar cookie recipe that I also made because there is no way for me to compare unless I have the cookies next to one another. I happen to LOVE sugar cookies, and I am always looking to improve! So far, my taste test was successful. :)

I will say that the Dorie cookies were a little bit tougher to roll out. Most sugar cookies stick, but these seemed to stick a bit more. To fix that, I just added more flour to the board.

My alteration was adding a vanilla bean. Something I like to do to my sugar cookies.

These are so darn festive and cute! I just love them!