I'm done!

I'm all done with my Thanksgiving baking! Now, before you go rolling your eyes and shooting me dirty looks, you should probably know that I started a couple of weeks ago and have been freezing some of it, so I didn't have a ton to make, plus I've got big plans tomorrow - lunch and "Catching Fire" with my sister, and an afternoon of cookie frosting for the big game on Saturday (go Bucks!), so the Thanksgiving stuff had to get done today.

Here's what I've made:

Pioneer woman pumpkin cinnamon rolls (honestly, the best cinnamon rolls EVER, you can find the recipe on the Pioneer Woman website)

Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

Molasses cookies

Cranberry Chocolate chip tarts

I made cranberry chocolate chip cookie bars last year at Christmas time, and couldn't wait for Christmas to make them again. This year I used the cookie dough to make a tart and filled it with the chocolate chips and fresh cranberries. These couldn't be the more perfect mix of tart and sweet, love them!

An experimental experiment

I've been working on a project for our county 4H program, a project book all about one of my favorite things - baking cookies. This afternoon i tested out an experiment that is part of the project (I figure its a good idea to try it myself before asking a 9 year old to do it).  You can find all kinds of variations on this experiment all over Pinterest, basically, i use different amounts of ingredients, different baking times, and different baking temperatures to show the effect that each variable has on the finished cookie.  my variables, and therefore my results, are fairly over-exaggerated, because I want the effects of each ingredient to be well understood.

1. The first cookie is the control - this cookie has the proper amount of all necessary ingredients, and has baked for the correct time.

2. The second cookie has too much flour. Not only did it not spread out, it is also rock hard.

3. The third cookie has too much shortening, which melted and burned during baking because there was too much for the flour to absorb.

4. The fourth cookie was baked at the correct temperature, but for too long.  It is hard, and burnt all of the way through.

5. The fifth cookie was baked at a temperature that was too warm.  The edges are burnt and crispy, and the middle is dark, but very soft. It did not bake evenly.

6. The sixth cookie was baked at a temperature that was not hot enough.  The cookie is too soft to pick up, and is not cooked all of the way through. 

I'm glad that the experiment worked the way that i wanted it to, but I was really sad to have to ruin 5 cookies in the process, it hurt to throw those in the trash!

Moving on

Wow. It's been a while. Lets just say my life has been a bit nuts lately, which has left me feeling lots of ups and lots of downs. BUT I am so over it. I'm ready to move on and this is the best opportunity to do so, seeing as I have a whole week off!

I started today with a trip that I've been meaning to make for a while - a local baking supply store that I've *gasp* never been to. I have a friend who has been raving about this place and I finally took it upon myself to check it out. Let me just say one thing; how did I not know about this?! Oh. My. Goodness. Every kind of pan, cookie cutter, wrapper, sprinkle, extract, tool, you name it, you can find it here. I was honestly in this tiny little store for at least an hour. If you find yourself in Maumee Ohio you MUST stop in The Baker's Kitchen, and forewarning, there is an actual bakery attached to the store and if you don't faint from the sugary sweet amazing smell then you just may have to buy baked goods before you leave.

The other fun thing that I did to start off my week was to try out the Popsicle molds that I got at Ikea not too long ago. I used a recipe from the Cookie Dough Lovers cookbook - cookie dough Popsicles! Also amazing! I took a picture but it did not do the Popsicles justice, and then they started melting, so I ate them, hence, no pictures, but I promise that they tasted amazing.

Now I'm off to bed early because I am getting up at 3:30 in the morning to embarks on a pilgrimage - Vera Bradley outlet sale here I come!!!!!

Book review - The Cookie Dough Lovers Cookbook

I asked for a lot of cookbooks for Christmas this year, this is one that I didn't receive as a gift, so I bought it for myself :)

I love the idea behind this book; everyone loves cookie dough, even though we know that we aren't supposed to eat it, so here is a book filled with recipes that are made using egg-free cookie dough, which is perfectly safe to consume raw... Safe other than the fact that I just may gain 5 pounds...

The photos in the book are gorgeous, they absolutely make me wan to try every single recipe. The other thing that I love about this book is that their is something for absolutely every taste and culinary skill level, from Rice Krispie treats with a layer of cookie dough to cookie dough filled cannoli. There is even a breakfast section - cookie dough sweet rolls or waffles anyone?!

I can't wait to try some of these, although I really think that I just may have a bowl of egg free cookie dough in my fridge at all times now. Forget the cute recipes, nothing is better than cookie dough straight out of the bowl!

Time to breathe

Whew. I'm wiped out. Today was awesome and jam packed. It was one of those days that wears you out completely, but you're ok with it because you've gotten so much accomplished.

I was off work today, but my vacation didn't start until I finally sat down to eat dinner at 7:30. The rest of my day was a marathon cooking session - baking cookies, 2 different kinds, frosting cookies, baking sweet potato biscuits, packing everything up, and cleaning the kitchen, like 3 times. I also may have taken a little break to get my nails done, a girls gotta splurge every now and then!

This morning seems like a really long time ago! Here are some pictures of my hard work. I'm off to enjoy my holiday! (And check out the cute lamp I scored for $10! So I did some shopping too, there's always time for shopping).

The process

Making sugar cookies in my house is a week-long event. I could probably get it all done in two days if I had nothing else to do, but life has a tendency to get in the way, so I've broken it down into manageable chunks so that I can get a little accomplished at a time.

Day one (usually the evening before I want to bake the cookies): mix up the dough and refrigerate over night. 30 minutes.

Day two: roll, cut, and bake. After baking I let the cookies cool and then put them into a container that I can put in the freezer. Freezing the cookies lets me return to them whenever it is convenient. I don't have to worry about frosting them before they get stale. 3 hours with clean-up.

Day three: make frosting. This includes actually making the frosting and mixing frosting colors. I prefer to do this the same day that I frost the cookies but it doesn't always work out that way. 1 to 2 hours depending on the number of colors.

Day four: frost and decorate. This is the most time consuming part of the whole process, and it is nearly impossible to say how long this takes because it really depends on how fancy the cookies are going to be, but I can say without a doubt that it never takes less than 4 hours (clean up included).

After the cookies are frosted they take at least one full day to dry. Whew. It makes me tired just thinking about it. Today was frosting and decorating day for my Thanksgiving cookies, and I was so excited to finish these babies, then I ran out of frosting. That RARELY happens, and when it does Its like letting the air out of the balloon. Now I get to find time to make more frosting and decorate more cookies.

Here's a picture of the cookies I've finished for thanksgiving so far - this year I went for a fall theme, so I've got turkeys, pumpkins, apples, pies, squirrels, and acorns. They are super cute if I may say so myself!

Mmmm breakfast

I'm not usually a breakfast kind of girl, typically I just grab some coffee and go, but I spent the weekend baking in preparation for our county fair, so I currently have an over abundance of yummy choices staring at me!

This morning I went for iced coffee (gotta love that magic bullet) and chocolate chip pumpkin bread.

Today I am celebrating my last day off for the summer with the some projects around the house and lots of daytime television, not to mention sleeping in! I'm not too heartbroken though, because I am off all of next week for the great Wood County Fair!

The verdict

Ok, I tried them, and the verdict is in: YUM! So good! Now I have to write down the recipe before I forget what it is.

I originally started with a recipe for Nutella cookies, however I didn't actually have any Nutella, I used World Market Vanilla Hazelnut spread (pictured below) and Hershey's Cocoa powder. So we'll call them cocoa hazelnut chip cookies.

Cocoa Hazelnut Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup vanilla hazelnut spread (or nutella)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (omit if using nutella)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Beat in hazelnut spread, if using cocoa powder, add now and mix well. Add baking soda, salt and flour. Mix in chocolate chips by hand.

Spoon onto baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

It's what I do

It's my day off, and after running about a million errands, I still had a little bit of time (I know, it's a miracle). Since I've been in a bit of a funk lately, I thought it might help my mood to do the one thing I love more than anything else: bake cookies!

I tried a new recipe today, and I made quite a few alterations, so I won't share until I try them, but I must assure you that they smell much more appetizing than they look!

Mmmm ice cream

One of the best gifts that we received when we got married was the ice cream maker attachment for our Kitchen Aid mixer (thank you A&A!). We use this thing ALL the time, like tonight for example, I made ice cream for our Father's day BBQ at my parents'.

It is super easy to use. First, the bowl is in our freezer at all times so it is always ready to use. The night before I want to make the ice cream I mix up the base, simmer 1 quart half and half and 3/4 of a cup of sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. I let this mixture cool in the refrigerator overnight (this is super important, if the base isn't cold enough it will never freeze in the ice cream maker - I've tried and it was an epic fail).

The next day add half a cup of milk (the original recipe suggests whole milk, but I use skim to save on the calories and I think it tastes just fin, I swear my husband has never complained, and that man can be awfully picky about his ice cream), abd 1 to 2 tablespoons of vanilla, depending on how strong of a fLavor you want. Hook up the mixer attachment and turn the mixer to the slowest setting, pour in the ice cream mixture and run until the mixture has thickened - typically 20 minutes to half an hour.

This is the recipe that I use as the base for all of my ice cream favors. Sometimes I add extracts, candy pieces, fruit, you name it. The fun part is experimenting to see what works and what doesn't!

The best way to spend a day off!

Today is my day off and I am doing what I love love love to do: baking!

Today I stuck with a tried and true favorite - monster cookies. For those of you who aren't familiar with monster cookies, they are a peanut butter oatmeal cookie with raisins, chocolate chips, and m&ms, some people opt to add nuts, I just go for the crunchy peanut butter. My favorite monster cookie recipe is from my favorite chef in the world, the lovely Ms. Paula Deen!

I hope this picture makes you drool!