Everything But The… Cookies

Photobucket Either my oldest daughter is obsessed with food as I am or she is one very creative kid. We’ll go with the latter. Either way, she does have some delicious and ingenious ideas when it comes to cookies.

We’re huge ice cream fans, especially Ben & Jerry’s, however, we only splurge on the Cadillac of ice cream when it’s on BOGO at our local supermarket. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened in a while. Though my taste buds miss the ice cold delicacy, my thighs can do without it.

Then, one day in a sad we-miss-Ben & Jerry’s moment, Allana says, “You know what would be really good? An Everything But The… cookie.”

“Oh my God. That’s genius!” I felt a twinge in my thighs when I said it.

Then in like an ironic twist of fate, I woke up in the middle of the night with a Charlie horse in my right quad. My thigh was already Jonesing for the chocolaty goodness.

These ice cream inspired cookies came out better than Allana and I imagined. I just hope my thighs don’t beg for them in the middle of the night again.

Everything But The… Cookies
Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, cold
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup chopped almonds
½ cup pretzel sticks
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup Heath English Toffee Bits
½ cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Minis

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.

Using a standing electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Then add eggs one at a time and beat until well blended. Mix in vanilla.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour to wet ingredients a little at a time and mix on a low speed until well combined. Mix in pretzel sticks and almonds.

Remove bowl from mixer and fold in chocolate chips, Heath bits and mini peanut butter cups.

Drop about a tablespoon amount of dough onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 13-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for five minutes. Then, move cookies to cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately three dozen.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!

And while here, don’t forget to toss some cookies at The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Swap!

*Also submitted at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Peppermint Snickerdoodles

‘Tis the season for snickerdoodles!

Snickerdoodles are a favorite in this house, but I wanted to add a new twist to an old favorite. A peppermint twist that is!

Originating from a late night wild idea, these Peppermint Snickerdoodles came out better than I dreamed. My family loved them and hopefully, they will be a hit at this year’s Christmas cookie swap too.

On the subject of Christmas cookies swaps, I’m hosting The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Swap. Be sure to sneak a peek and sample all the tasty treats being shared in the linky party.

Peppermint Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, COLD
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp peppermint extract
6 tsp red edible glitter
½ cup (about 24) starlight mints

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with a Silpat or parchment paper.
Place mints a Ziploc bag and crush with a mallet until powdery. In a small bowl, combine red edible glitter and crushed mints.
In another bowl, whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt until well blended. Set aside.
Using a standing electric mixer, beat unsalted COLD butter cut into small cubes and sugar.
Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined. Add peppermint and mix through.
Add in the flour mixture in three parts and mix until well combined.
Shape the dough into 1 ½ inch ball. Roll each ball in the red minty sugar mixture until well coated and arrange about 2-3 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
Bake one sheet at a time for 12-14 minutes. Leave additional baking sheets chilling in fridge while the other bakes.
Let stand briefly. Then move cookies to cooling rack until completely cooled. Yields approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Run DMT Second Annual Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Swap

Maestro cue the music.

*cough*

Eh hem.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/jNsp5fP7tB4?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
When flour needs some sifting
And batter mixed with an ingredient of good cheer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
It’s yum, yummiest season of all!
Oven timers will be dinging and mom will be singing
As she samples them all!
It’s yum, yummiest season of all!

There’ll be cookies with chips
And some will call to be dipped
And some are powdered with snow
Sometimes you feel like nut
But sometimes you don’t but you choose
To present them with a bow

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Oh the most wonderful time of the year!

Yes, it’s that time of year again. It’s time find your favorite cookie recipes or maybe share some new ones in Run DMT’s Second Annual Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap. I know that the title of the cookie swap linky party is a bit of a mouthful, but then so are the cookies I will be stuffing in my face all month long.

Simply post a cookie recipe or any sweet treat on your blog. Be sure to included add The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap button to your post and link back to this post. Then, swing back here to Run DMT and add your link to the linky list. It’s that simple! Can’t you just taste the fun already?! Cookies and comment love is a tasty pair.

It’s all the fun of a regular Christmas cookie swap without all the extra calories.

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Turkey Cookie Craft

Photobucket Thanksgiving has come and gone and though most of my readers are focused on another a holiday in the midst of Black Friday frenzy, I wanted to share an edible turkey craft that I made with my seven year old’s class while Thanksgiving is still fresh on the brain digesting. You will want to bookmark, pin and file away this edible turkey craft idea for next Thanksgiving.

After Halloween, I bought several bags of candy corn on clearance with the specific purpose to make some kind of edible craft with my kids. Funny enough, as one of the homeroom moms, I was in charge of a craft for our Thanksgiving feast.

With a quick Google search, I tried to remember how to make an edible turkey with Oreo cookies, however, the Oreo turkeys I found weren’t exactly what I wanted. So, I decided to combine a few of the ideas I found and I came up with this.

Of course, the kids gobbled up the fun.

Turkey Cookie Craft
Ingredients
Golden Double Stuff Oreos
Nutter Butter Bites
Harvest Mix Candy Corn
Pretzel sticks
1 tub of white icing
1 tube black decorating icing gel
1 tube red decorating icing gel

Directions
Gently add the turkey’s tail feathers by wedging in the four brown-colored candy corn into the Oreo middle between the two cookies. (You could also gently remove the top cookie.)

For the turkey’s legs, snap one pretzel stick in half and gently add the sticks into the opposite end of the candy corn. (If you pulled off top of the Oreo, add a small amount icing and reapply the cookie.)

Add a small amount of icing to backside of a Nutter Butter Bite and “glue” the cookie to Oreo. Add a small amount of icing to a yellow candy corn and “glue” it to the mini Nutter Butter.

Using the black decorating icing gel, add two eyes. Then, add a wattle using the red decorating icing gel.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!

*Also submitted at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Mexican Wedding Cakes for Cinco de Mayo

Photobucket My family and I are participating in a Mexican-themed race today called the Crazy Sombrero. Afterwards, one of our friends is hosting a post-race party where all the guests were asked to being a snack to share for the fiesta.

What to bring? What to bring? Margaritas? Mexican Lasagna?

As I flipped through the Mexican-flare recipe cards in my mind, I recalled the potluck luncheons from my early teaching days. Back then, I taught in a very rural community of Dade City with a large population of migrant workers, mostly Mexican and some were part of our school’s staff. Thanks to the lovely senoras on staff, Mexican Wedding Cakes were always part of the potluck and they were delicious. Similar in texture to a shortbread (Scottish, not Martha’s), they were a tasty light, flaky buttery cookie.

So, to pay homage to my Mexican homies, I tried my hand at Mexican Wedding Cakes like the senoras used to bake. Traditionally, these cookies are made with pecans or walnuts, but due to my nut allergy, I chose to use almonds instead.

Before beginning the cookie batter, I roasted the almonds on an ungreased baking sheet at 325° for about 10 minutes for a rich fragrance but not burnt.

I let the roasted almonds cool completely before I chopped them in a food processor for a fine, almost mealy texture.

Using a standing electric mixer, I combined the butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, ground nuts and flour. Then, I rolled them into 2-inch balls and baked them for about 15 minutes until the edges were golden brown.

I let the cookies set and cool for a few minutes before rolling them in powdered sugar. Once coated with a light layer of confectioners’ sugar, I returned them to the cooling rack.

Honestly, Mexican Wedding Cakes are so easy to make and I think the senoras would be quite pleased with my cookies. They tasted just like I remembered. It’s funny how one small taste can send you back in time.

Me gustan mucho.

Mexican Wedding Cakes

(Adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

½ cup confectioners’ (powdered) sugar

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts or almonds), toasted and finely ground (See above.)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup confectioners’ sugar for topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease or line two cookie baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.

Using a standing electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until well combined. Then, add finely ground nuts and mix on a low setting for about 15 seconds. Add flour and mix on a low setting until well combined.

Shape into 1-2 inch balls and arrange about 1 ¼ inch apart on the baking sheets. Bake one at a time until edges are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and cool on a wired rack for about 5 minutes.

While still warm but cool enough to handle, roll each cookie in confectioners’ sugar and return to cooling rack. Just before serving, sift additional confectioners’ sugar over cookies.

Yields about 2 dozen

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!

*Also submitted at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Martha Stewart’s Shortbread Candy Bars

Photobucket I married a snob, but I knew he was a snob when I married him. He’s been turning his nose up at Dunkin’ Donuts coffee for years and when it comes to beer, only craft beer will pass his palette. Like I said, I’ve known this for years, however, I only recently discovered that he is a shortbread snob.

Growing up in the UK, Iron Chef Allan probably had his share of wonderful homemade Scottish shortbread, especially since his Granny and Mum make some delicious buttery, crumbly shortbread, which may explain why he refuses anything other than traditional Scottish shortbread.

When I told him about this Martha Stewart shortbread recipe I found on Pinterest, he immediately replied, “Well that won’t be good.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it’s Martha Stewart. She can’t just do traditional shortbread. She’s got to change somehow.”

“Well, she does use brown sugar instead of white sugar.”

“See.”

“And she uses coarse salt. What’s coarse salt?”

“See, it just can’t be traditional Scottish shortbread. She has to add coarse salt because everyday table salt just won’t do. Totally f*cking Martha Stewart.”

I have to admit. I was a little nervous about this recipe. I’ve never made any Martha dishes before this one. But before I began baking, I had to learn why she used coarse salt. So with a quick Google search, I stumbled upon Baking Bites which explained the reason for the substitution.

Coarse salt (also known as Kosher salt or sea salt) has less sodium than table salt.

Coarse salt adds a dramatic contrast the sweetness.

Of course, I immediately reported my findings to Iron Chef Allan. “Coarse salt is just Kosher or sea salt and it adds contrast to the sweetness of the dish.”

“Well, she couldn’t just say Kosher salt, now could she? Totally f*cking Martha Stewart.”

He continued grumbling over Martha Stewart as I began to bake her shortbread.

I originally found this recipe around Halloween as an clever way to use leftover Halloween candy. Since I have piles of Easter candy in my pantry, I decided to add some springtime flare to the recipe.

For the baking portion, I followed the recipe as is, however, I got a bit more creative with the toppings. I used my kids’ chocolate bunnies for the chocolate spread.

By doing so, I believe I may have traumatized my children in the process.

Yep, I boiled the bunny. Using a double boiler, I melted their bunnies to create a chocolaty layer to spread over the shortbread.

Then, I smashed some Cadbury Mini Eggs and sprinkled them on top.

The results were surprisingly delicious and the coarse salt really was nice contrast to the sweetness. BUT, it doesn’t taste like traditional Scottish shortbread. These bars have a blondie-like texture and therefore, they did not pass the Iron Chef Allan taste test.

Whatever. They are incredible and all mine.

Damn you, f*cking Martha Stewart.

Martha Stewart’s Shortbread (but certainly NOT Scottish Shortbread) Candy Bars

(Adapted from marthastewart.com)

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 ¼ tsp coarse salt

2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used approximately two small 4 oz. chocolate bunnies, chopped and a ½ cup of milk chocolate chips for the chocolate layer.)

2 cups assorted chocolate candies or roughly chopped candy bars or pieces (I used Cadbury Mini Eggs.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch baking pan with non-stick aluminum foil.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and salt on medium-high until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. With mixer on low, add flour in three additions and beat until combined (dough will be crumbly).

Press dough evenly into prepared baking pan. Bake until golden brown and firm, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven a set on cooling rack.

While shortbread cools, melt chocolate in double-boiler. Once melted completely to a creamy and smooth texture, pour over shortbread. With a spatula, spread chocolate evenly over shortbread. Scatter candy pieces over top.

Refrigerate briefly to set chocolate. Cut into 16 bars.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!

*Also submitted at*

Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Peppermint Shortbread

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Last Sunday, my mom, my sister and I held our annual Christmas cookie baking day. For our annual cookie challenge, my electric mixer churns all day long to produce dozens of delightful treats and every year I surprise myself.

My baking has come a long way since the days of slice and bake cookies. My friend, Chrissy, still teases me about the time I tried to pull off store-bought Snickerdoodle break-apart cookies as my own at a cookie swap. Yep, I used to be that person.

But not these days! Now, I’m like Betty Crocker whipping out batches of cookies and I’m certainly not intimidated to try new cookie recipes. No more break-apart necessary!

Plus, the best part about making my own from scratch is that I know exactly what ingredients are in each batch. There’s no hydrogenated oil or artificial flavor. Just some sticks of good ol’ fashion butter!

Since I’m not scared to try new cookie recipes, I decided to give Publix’s Peppermint Shortbread a whirl. This recipe was featured in the Publix’s Grape Winter 2011 magazine, which is currently on display on the kiosk at the front of the store.

Of course, Publix’s recipe called for 1 cup (2 sticks) butter because every good shortbread needs lots of butter. However the recipe didn’t call for salt, which I thought was odd since cookies are typically made with unsalted butter. So, I consulted Iron Chef Allan the Joy of Cooking to compare shortbread recipes. Sure enough, Joy’s recipe stated unsalted butter and ¼ tsp of salt.

Not a difficult recipe by any means and the results are delicious! And look at the presentation! How pretty and festive! I impress myself sometimes!

Peppermint Shortbread

Ingredients

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup crushed peppermint candies

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut up

½ tsp peppermint extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 325.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.

In a large bowl, lightly combine the flour, sugar, salt and crushed candies. Then, pour dry ingredients in electric mixer. Add cut up butter and peppermint extract. Combine on a low speed until mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Remove bowl from mixer. Use your hands to bring mixture together and shape into a ball. (The warmth of your hands will soften the butter and help mixture come together.)

Divide dough into half. On the prepared baking sheet pat each dough half into 6-inch circles about ½ inch thick. If desired, flute the edges with a fork and prick each dough circle several times with prongs. Cut each dough circle into 8 wedges (like a pizza) but do not separate the wedges.

Bake about 20 minutes or center appears set. Cool on baking sheet on a wire cooling rack for 5 minutes. Slice wedges again while warm. Remove wedges from baking sheet and place on wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 16 wedges.

Note: The next time I make these cookies, I’ll split the dough into two loaves instead of two circles and then cut 2 inch bars into the loaves prior to baking. By doing this, it will offer more than 16 servings, which is necessary for a Christmas cookie swap. And speaking of Christmas cookie recipe swaps, don’t miss this one!

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

*Also submitted at*

Pumpkin Biscotti

Photobucket Last Friday, I blogged about The Great Pumpkin Palooza for Thanksgiving! This was no joke. Iron Chef Allan and I really did bake an unbelievable amount of pumpkin goodies. I have enough material for four more Friday Food Fights, but I’ll spare you the pumpkin, because it’s Christmas and I’m ready to move onto some peppermint goodies.

Well, maybe just one more pumpkin treat because these pumpkin biscotti were so yummy. All right then, I’ll share one more pumpkin treat with you because it is Christmas. And then, next week no pumpkin for you!

I found this recipe and all things pumpkin at My Baking Addiction. The white chocolate drizzle compliments the pumpkin pie flavor nicely, however, these pumpkin biscotti have a chewy center rather than a crunchy center like most biscotti. Perhaps it should be called Pumpkin Pie Biscotti because then you might anticipate a moist center. That’s what she said. Either way, this biscotti is a tasty Thanksgiving snack while sip your coffee.

Pumpkin Biscotti (from My Baking Addiction)

Ingredients
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter
1 ¼ cup nuts, coarsely chopped (I used almonds.)
White chocolate chips (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350*F.

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl; stir well. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla, stirring well with a wire whisk. Slowly add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Mixture will be very crumbly. It will gradually become moist after stirring.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add nuts. Cook, stirring constantly, until nuts are browned. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Knead or gently stir cooled nuts into dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 portions. Lightly flour hands and shape each portion into a 2 x 10″ long log. Place logs 3″ apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 24 minutes; cool logs 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 F.

After some cooling, move a loaf to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2″ thick pieces. Do the same to the other loaf. The interior of each biscotti should still be just a little moist (while the exterior is nice and hard). The crust of the loaf will probably be quite hard, so use a large serrated knife such as a bread knife for this job.

Place the biscotti with a cut side facing up on a half sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan and flip all the biscotti over so the other cut side is now facing up. Bake for another 7 minutes. Set all the pieces on a wire rack to cool making sure that none of the biscotti are touching each other. If the biscotti are placed too close together, they could get a little soft or soggy as they cool.

Once the biscotti have fully cooled, they can be consumed as, white chocolate dipped or drizzle with white chocolate.

For a white chocolate drizzle, melt some white chocolate chips and add the melted chocolate in a Ziploc bag. Cut a small opening in one corner and drizzle it across the biscotti.

The biscotti tastes best during the first few days, but will keep for up to a month in a sealed air-tight container.

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight. And while you’re here, feel free to ~~toss~~ share your cookies at The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap.

*Also submitted at*

The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap

Photobucket
(Cue music.)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

When flour needs some sifting

And batter mixed with an ingredient of good cheer

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

It’s yum, yummiest season of all!

Oven timers will be dinging and mom will be singing

As she samples them all!

It’s yum, yummiest season of all!

There’ll be cookies with chips

And some will call to be dipped

And some are powdered with snow.

Sometimes you feel like nut

But sometimes you don’t but you choose

To present them with a bow.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Oh the most wonderful time of the year!

Help make this wonderful time even better by adding your cookie recipe to The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap linky party. I know that the title of the linky party is a bit of a mouthful, but then so are the cookies I will be stuffing in my face all month long.

To join the recipe swap, simply post a cookie recipe or any sweet treat on your blog. Photos with your recipe are an added treat. Be sure to included add The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap button to your post and link back to this post. Then, come back to Run DMT to add your link to this blog hop. You can share as many treats as you like, but please include the cookie swap button in your post and link back here. Then, sample some of the treats by visiting the links listed. Add a comment to tell us which cookies are your favorites!

It’s so simple! Can’t you just taste the fun already?! Now let’s toss share those cookies!

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Oatmeal Craisin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Like I mentioned in my previous post, my mom, my sister and I set a date for our “Annual Marathon Christmas Cookie Baking Day” and I’ve already dog-eared some of my favorites and pinned some new ones to try on Pinterest.

Like any marathon, a baking marathon requires some training to ensure a peak performance or PB (personal best). I made this “test batch” of Oatmeal Craisin White Chocolate Chip Cookies as a gift for my Suncoast Strider friends and they came out perfect! Of course, when Iron Chef Allan tastes them, he’ll tell me how to improve them ask me why I didn’t make a batch for him and the girls.

I better start baking another batch before he gets home before I eat them all. I need all the “training” I can get.

Oatmeal Craisin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 – 6 ounce package Ocean Spray Craisins Original Sweetened Dried Cranberries

2/3 cup white chocolate chips
Directions

Preheat oven to 375˚F.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Then, add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Then, add butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes approximately 2 ½ dozen cookies.

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are flinging for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

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Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie or treat you bake and share every year?

On December 1, a few blogger friends and I will be hosting The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap and you‘re cordially invited! So, dust off your favorite Christmas cookie recipes, preheat your ovens and set your timers for Thursday, December 1, when our blog hop goes live. Then, snap some photos of your gingersnaps or whatever other tasty treats you want to share for The Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap!

More details to digest soon!

*Also submitted at*

Run DMT

I'm a mom on the run!

Tag Archives: cookies

Peppermint Snickerdoodles

Run DMT Second Annual Ultimate Virtual Christmas Cookie Swap

Turkey Cookie Craft

Mexican Wedding Cakes for Cinco de Mayo

Martha Stewart’s Shortbread Candy Bars

Peppermint Shortbread

Pumpkin Biscotti

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