March 16: Oatmeal Raisin cookies

More than one person asked me excitedly what I made for St. Patrick's Day. Well I'm sorry to disappoint, but I didn't give it any thought at all. I'm sure I could have made some chocolate stout cookie, or cut and ice shamrock shapes, or something, but St. Patrick's Day has always been a non-event for me. I think I've gone out to celebrate it once, and have never had a green beer in my life. Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I just don't understand going out to get wasted during the middle of the week, and regaling coworkers the next day about how hungover you are, and how you upchucked "green".

Well aren't I a little party pooper?

Well for those of you who really want some sort of Irish baked good, the best I can do is Oatmeal Raisin cookies. I mean, oats are a staple in the Irish household, right? Anybody?

Yeah. Suuuuure.

Anyway, I have to admit, Oatmeal Raisin cookies are not normally something I reach for, though if they're around I'll eat them because--let's face it--I love cookies desserts food. They do, however, seem to have a pretty hardcore following..that is, those who like Oatmeal Raisin cookies really LOVE them.

And they should! It wasn't until making them myself (for the first time ever, I might add) that I appreciated how great they are. Firstly, they're easy to make; the recipe employs your standard creaming makeup, and the drop baking method, so they're as easy as mix, drop, bake. Secondly, they're crazy delicious, full of fibre, and nice to chew on. Thirdly, this particular recipe is versatile. Once the flour is added, you mix in the oats (or puffed rice, or cornflakes, or...) and raisins (or dried cranberries, or chocolate chips, or trail mix, or...whatever!). Just like biscotti, you can make virtually anything out of this recipe.

Now I'm my harshest critic, but I have to say these are simply THE (as in "thee") best Oatmeal Raisin cookies I've ever tasted. I think it's the combination of cinnamon and cloves that really knocks these cookies out of the park. I also soaked the raisins for about 30 minutes (and then made sure they were super dry!) before adding them to the batter so that they'd be nice and moist. It occurred to me only afterward that I could have soaked them in rum...how delicious would THAT be? Rum Raisin Oatmeal Cookies? ZOMG.

Anyway, these cookies are an A+ for sure. You can find the recipe for Oatmeal Raisin cookies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Oatmeal Raisin cookies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

Public Service Announcement

In this work-a-day world, nobody has the time to make a decent wholesome breakfast anymore. And what about all that mess? That's why there's BATTER BLASTER. And ooh! It's "organic". That means it's healthy.

Batter Blaster Organic Pancake and Waffle Batter - Funny videos are here

Don't walk, RUN to your nearest supermarket (in the U.S.) and stock up on these bad boys, because when the zombie apocalypse comes, there won't be TIME to make pancakes from scratch anymore. Oh, and don't forget to wear your pearls.

They don't sell this in Canada, you say? Shocking.

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That's it, I'm referring to all of these disgusting lazy-man's products as shaker muffins. Let's face it, "shaker aerosol squirting pancakes" just simply doesn't have the same jazzy ring to it.

March 15: Fancy Icebox Cookies

Last night an Icebox Cookie saved my life
Last night an Icebox Cookie saved my life, yeah
'Cause I was sittin' there feelin' like death
And in just one breath, it said
"All you gotta do is get up, you got get up, and slice me girl"

Last night I was stricken with my third migraine in the span of a week. I ran to my wonderful chiropractor (shout-out!) who treated me, and while I was sitting there in the dark room bawling my eyes out, all I could think about was cookies. As in, "Am I going to toss mine?"

Ew. TMI.

But seriously, I was worried that I'd be too useless to bake the March 15 batch, when I realized that I'd planned for just such an occasion by making a batch of Icebox Cookies a couple weekends ago.

Now I'm no masochist; I went home and took hours to recover. And when I was finally able to stand, all I had to do was slice these babies and bake 'em. I was on my feet for maybe 15 minutes total.

Slice and bake: on the cooling rack.

What's perfect about an icebox cookie is that you can do a lot with them: you can make plain vanilla or chocolate, or marble the two, or make checkerboards or bullseye cookies or WHATEVER, roll them and wrap them in plastic and refrigerate them for a week or two, or freeze them for months. When you know company's coming, pull them out, thaw them on the counter for 10 minutes, and slice them and bake. That way you'll always have fresh baked cookies around, and you spend almost no time or effort on the day you need them.

Pause for a short brainstorm: You could also make Neopolitain Icebox Cookies by making 2 vanilla doughs and 1 chocolate dough. Flavour 1 vanilla dough with strawberry extract and use red food colouring to make the dough pink. Layer all three and VOILA!

Anyway, I like a good challenge, so I tried making checkerboard cookies for the first time. It was certainly a learning experience; while the chocolate dough I made was a perfect consistency, the white dough was so weak and prone to ripping that it was almost impossible to work with. (The formula in my Professional Baking textbook called for pastry flour, but I think I'd use all-purpose next time to yield a stronger dough.) Lifting it onto the chocolate was a nightmare, so I was surprised I got anything even remotely resembling a checkerboard pattern at all.

Checkerboard...ish.

The recipe also said to roll the dough to 1/4" thickness, but I think this was too thin. I would go a full 1/2" next time to give perfect squares.

While not the perfect checkerboard pattern, these cookies still look pretty cool, and they taste great. Oh, and I got to make marble cookies out of my checkerboard scraps, and you can't mess these up!

Just don't overknead when making marble cookies or you will blend your doughs together and lose the marbling.

You can find the recipe for Fancy Icebox cookies on my Recipes Page (will appear later when I can type up the recipe).

If you'd like to order some of your own Checkerboard cookies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 14: Tropical Thumbprint Cookies

After so much baking, I found myself with 9 leftover egg yolks. What in goodness sake would I make with that many yolks? The obvious answer seemed to be poundcake, but this is March of the Cookies, darnit, so I was going to find a way to make these yolks into COOKIES.

I found a wonderful recipe for Egg Yolk Cookies, which admittedly doesn't sound delicious, but my coworker says this was one of the best sugar cookies she'd ever had. The heavier citrus tones are what prevent this cookie from tasting too eggy. And while this dough was tasty on its own, I once again wanted to do my own thing with it, so I made "thumbprint" cookies.

After my macaroon making I found myself with some extra coconut, so I rolled the Egg Yolk Cookie dough into balls, rolled it in the coconut, and pressed my thumb into it. Then I filled the indentation with a Mango Coconut Jam that I brought back from Hawaii, and sweet mercy were they ever good!

I also made some with raspberry filling, which wasn't very "tropical" but still super delish nonetheless.

You can find the recipe for Tropical Thumbprint cookies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Tropical or Raspberry Thumbprint cookies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 13: Double Chocolate Cookies

When I made the first draft of the March cookie schedule, Double Chocolate cookies were not on the list. I was trying to get a very broad range of cookies, and trying to avoid "duplicates" or recipes that were too similar. To me, I already had a chocolate chip cookie, so I figured Double Chocolate cookies had no place in the march.

The irony? When I went to make today's cookie, Lebkuchen--a German cookie recipe--I had a bout of déjà vu upon reading the ingredient list. Sure enough...Lebkuchen is almost the same as Basler Läckerli, but with added molasses! Sneaky sneaky...but I caught the mistake before starting mise en plus, and--realizing the error of my ways--made Martha's Double Chocolate cookies instead.

Boy howdy I'm glad I did!

These chocolate cookies provide a nice crispy outside to accompany the chewiness of the cookie, and are rich in the good way. And using coarse salt instead of iodized insures you get that ever-so-slight salty/sweet contrast that is a nice surprise in a chocolate cookie. The only thing I'd change is to chill the dough before baking it so that it doesn't spread out, as the cookies ended up a little thin for my liking.

Final Grade: A. You can find the recipe for Double Chocolate cookies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Double Chocolate cookies (packaged all pretty like this^), please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 12: Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

Macaroons refer to a wide variety of cookie. Some consist primarily of almonds, some are mostly plain coconut, and some even have a jam center. While I am a fan of macaroons in all their permutations, I chose to make my very favourite macaroons from childhood: Chocolate Coconut Macaroons.

These macaroons turned out wonderfully...the chewiness of the coconut provided a delicious base for rich chocolate flavour. The sightly gooey centre is also a nice contrast to the crispier outside.

Final Grade: A+ You can find the recipe for Chocolate Coconut Macaroons on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Chocolate Macaroons, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 11: Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

INT. COFFEE SHOP - SUNDAY AFTERNOON

A busy but quiet cafe. Modern but homey.

Couples and individuals sit at tables, talking to themselves or reading a newspaper. MUSIC plays quietly in the background, contributing to the relaxing atmosphere.

YVONNE orders a latte and biscotti from the BARISTA and takes a seat near the window to enjoy her coffee in the sunshine.

She raises the biscotti to her mouth slowly, brushing the long, silky hair away from her face. (heh)

She takes a bite, and we see her face contort with pain.

YVONNE
(pain and surprise)
Mother of...!?

YVONNE clutches her jaw in anguish and throws the biscotti on the floor.

YVONNE
There’s got to be a better way!

Scene ends.

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Is this scene familiar to you? That's because commercial biscotti is the suck. However, don't fret! One little step will prevent your biscotti from being the brick-like tooth breakers we've come to know and dislike.

To people who believe that biscotti are that hard because you're supposed to dip it in your coffee, I say pish-tosh! All cookies should be able to deliciously stand alone. There, I said it.

I was first introducted to Cranberry Pistachio biscotti in my Professional Baking class, and it was love at first bite. Rather than digging out my 300-page workbook and finding the bar cookie section, though, I decided to use the Joy of Baking recipe. What can I say, I'm a lazy baker sometimes...but not so lazy that I'd make shaker muffins. *shudder*

Imagine ten times the biscotti in a pretty glass jar. You can have your very own cafe at home!

So what's the secret to making "fluffy" biscotti that retain their dryness and long shelf-life but don't wreck your chompers? You MUST aerate your eggs for A FULL 5 MINUTES. Don't make me keep you after class on this one, kids.

Whipping your eggs with the sugar does 2 very important things for the texture of your biscotti:

• It allows the granulated sugar to dissolve into the water content of your eggs, preventing any grittiness.
• It incorporates the correct amount of air into your batter which will result in a lighter product that has a much more enjoyable mouth-feel than, say, gnawing on cement. These are the anti-brick, if you will.
  

If you like your teeth, you'll make your own biscotti. Besides...they're incredibly easy to make so there's really no excuse. Plus, they TOTALLY keep for like, EVAR! OMG!

This recipe is an excellent year-round choice, however because of the red and green of the cranberries and pistachios, they are a lovely cookie for Christmas cookie-giving.

Final Grade: A+. I'm in mad love with these biscotti and you can be too. Sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge and I will personally deliver these cookies to you. Heck, if you donate a lot, I'll even bring the coffee.

Speaking of ordering cookies, I've put a link at the top of the page for the March Cookie Schedule so that you can see what's coming up. I originally wanted each day to be a surprise, but since people are ordering they want to know what's on the docket so here you go!

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti recipe. You can change the kind of nuts, fruit or extract to suit your tastes (and sense of adventure) because biscotti dough is very forgiving. Have fun!