March 21: Pumpkin Currant Cookies

Me and pumpkin? We're friends. I love it, and it loves me. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin loaf, roasted pumpkin, pumpkin pie ice cream, all permutations of pumpkin are impeccably palatable!

As such, when I saw a recipe for Pumpkin Currant cookies, I knew right away that I HAD to try it.

They were really tasty, and even my manfella--who isn't a fan of pumpkin (this may be the reason we break up)--really liked them.

Orange pumpkin-y goodness!

These cookies are really moist, and the currants provide tasty little bursts of sweetness.

My only complaint is that these cookies are almost too soft; the combination of pumpkin--which already retains its moisture in baked goods--and the use of cake flour made these cookies more like little muffin tops. That in itself isn't a bad thing, but nothing about these screams "cookie". I think next time I make these I would use all-purpose flour instead of the called-for cake flour to give them more structure.

You can SEE how moist these are. The moisture makes these cookies delicate, but delicious.

Flavour Grade: A+. These cookies are really yummy! The combination of pumpkin and spices with currants is an absolute winner.

Texture Grade: C. Somehow...they're not cookies. This recipe as is would be best used with a muffin top pan, or substitute all-purpose flour to achieve something closer to a cookie.

FINAL GRADE: B.
You can find the recipe for Pumpkin Currant cookies on my Recipes Page.

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

March 20: Snickerdoodles

The only thing better than saying the word "Snickerdoodle" is eating one! These crispy cookies are coated in only cinnamon and sugar, and you would be amazed at how yummy these simple little cookies are. They're one of those recipes that have been around for ages, but don't mistake them for any old sugar cookie - traditionally Snickerdoodles are leavened by baking soda and cream of tartar, rather than baking powder.

Bake until golden around the edges for a crunchy cookie.

The acidity of cream of tartar helps soften the protein strands of the eggs and flour, which results in a chewier product when slightly underbaked, although a crispier product can be achieved by slightly overbaking.

I chose to overbake my Snickerdoodles when I made them, because for some reason these struck me as a cookie that would be better crispy. When I bit into one I was instantly reminded of Cinnamon Toast Crunch--one of my favourites as a kid--and my FAC (friend and coworker) Sarah said the exact same thing. Spooky!

The characteristic crinkled look of the Snickerdoodle.

Final Grade: A. These cookies are easy to make out of basic ingredients and will not disappoint.

You can find the recipe for Snickerdoodles on my Recipes Page.

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

March 19: Vanilla Bean Spritzgebäck (Spritz) cookies

AAAAAAAAAAAnd we're back!

You cannot believe how much it's bothered me how far behind I've gotten on my baking and this blog, but I was so sick that at one point I was convinced that I was going to the hospital. I still have a bit of a cough but for the most part I'm well, and have upped the baking tempo to prestissimo.

Let me start the catch up with Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies. Spritzgebäck (from spritzen, the German word for "squirt") is a cookie traditionally served around Christmastime. The dough is too soft to handle, so it must be squirted through a cookie press or a piping bag fitted with a tip. I don't own a cookie press (the last one I had was a cheap plastic one from Wal-mart that literally cracked under the pressure) so I used my piping bag and a large open star tip. The problem with this method, at least for me, is it's more difficult to get a consistent look to your cookies (although the photo from the Wikipedia article would have you believe inconsistency is just fine). However, if you don't spend your days typing like me, and you have strong tendons in your wrist (unlike me), you might be able to achieve consistent-looking cookies by not shaking when you pipe.

Some of these are lop-sided, the result of shaky wrists and uneven piping pressure. This is a skill that I may never be able to master due to my day-time profession, so I should buy a cookie press STAT!

I changed up the Joy of Baking recipe by adding a vanilla bean to the mix, giving these cookies the telltale vanilla bean speckle and richer, more genuine vanilla flavour. Also, just prior to baking, I added slivers of candied cherries to the tops to a) fancy them up, and b) give the cookies a little extra burst of flavour.

Seeing the vanilla bean speckles make these cookies instantly more delicious; after all, you eat with your eyes first!

These buttery biscuits almost melt on your tongue, largely because of how soft the dough is to begin with. Since they do not need to be handled, they require less flour which gives the cookies a lighter, airier texture and allows more of the butter flavour to shine through.

You can find the recipe for Spritz Cookies on my Recipes Page.

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

Technical Difficulties

Sorry for the delay folks, but I've been down for the count for a few days while I recover from some chest-cold-lung-infection-type thing. I'm behind on my baking, but I promise that 31 cookie recipes in March will be delivered!

March 18: Brownies

Mmm...brownies. Although these goodies seem to stand in a class by themselves, (as my friend and coworker Sarah said, "But, but... those aren't cookies, they're brownies!") they are actually a sheet cookie just like Nanaimo Bars. Brownies tend to be categorized as either "cakey" or "fudgey", and since neither of those descriptions scream "cookie", therein lies the confusion. However an excerpt from Wayne Gisslen's Professional Baking will explain:

Sheet cookies are one of the easiest and least labor intensive of any category. A batter, which can be thin or stiff, is made up and evenly spread into a pan with sides. Some recipes include a cookie or crumb base that is pressed onto the bottom of a pan before a batter is poured over it. After baking, the cookies are cut into squares or even triangles or diamonds. There are endless varieties (e.g., Fudge Brownies).

• A "cakey" brownie is achieved by using less chocolate and butter, creaming the butter with the sugar rather than melting it with the chocolate, and aerating the batter.
• A "fudgey" brownie is achieved by using more chocolate and butter, melting them together and using more egg yolks.
• A "chewy" brownie is achieved by using more flour and more whole eggs.
  

See this wonderful article on the nuances of brownie creation for more info.

Anyway, I once again relied on my go-to website, Joy of Baking, for the recipe, because it featured my favourite kind of brownie: chewy. A chewy brownie is half fudgey and half cakey, so you get the best of both in one.

"Gggggaaaaaaarrrrr! Arrrrhhhn."
(Chewie likes his brownies...uh, chewy.)

Le Creuset love!

Cutting the brownies into 2-bites. I love the crinkle texture on top.

These brownies were perfect, in my humble opinion, and I was especially pleased to once again get to use the Le Creuset square baker in kiwi that I won from Carol Ann's giveaway. That reminds me, your THANK YOU brownies will shortly be on their way, CAM!

You can find the recipe for Brownies on my Recipes Page.

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

Oops!

On Wednesday night, when y'all were out drinking green beer, I was at home making Pfeffernüsse and while the dough was chilling for an hour, I figured I'd make more Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, since I kind of oversold them (Oops #1).

Since they were so popular I decided to make a double batch, and used the yield calculator tool on the online recipe to double the measurements. I measured out my butter, then my brown sugar, then when I got to the white sugar for some reason I doubled the measurements again in my head (it's like I remembered I was doubling the recipe, but forgot I'd already done the calculations) and poured in 2 cups of white sugar (Oops #2).

There was no way to pull out all that white sugar, so I just decided to quadruple the recipe, and add more butter and brown sugar so that it was proportional. At that point, however, I was frustrated, and it was getting late, and I still had Pfeffernüsse to roll and bake. I covered the butter and sugar and left it to be made up the next day.

So last night, Brownies were on the agenda, but I wanted to finish making up that Chocolate Chip Cookie dough (estimated bedtime: 10:45pm). I put it all in my Cuisinart Stand Mixer (thank goodness for the 7-quart bowl) and 8 (E-I-G-H-T) cups of chocolate chips later (which used up ALL of my chocolate chips [Oops #3]), I had cookie dough. A LOT of it:

There's something odd here...oh yeah, it's the biggest pile of cookie dough you've ever seen. That's what.

ZOOM IN ON THE MASSIVE...uh...MASS OF DOUGH.

Perhaps these photos don't convey the sheer magnitude of this dough, so I plopped the whole thing on my digi-scale to give you a better idea:

ELEVENTY POUNDS (and 1.2 oz) OF DOUGH...and that doesn't count the bits I kept snitching from it. Mmm...chocolate chip cookie dough.

There was a little something inside me that wanted to keep this precious precious five-year supply of cookie dough all to myself...

WAPS, yo! (Wicked-Assed Photoshop Skillz)

It occurred to me that my manfella and the rest of the crew were scheduled to be stuck at work until after midnight, so I baked some off and took them to his work as a "You have to work until midnight and that sucks, but here are fresh out of the oven cookies, and that doesn't suck!" surprise. That's a +1 for me, however I didn't get home until after 10:30pm, and still had brownies to bake (Oops #4).

1/8 cup scoop versus 1/4 cup scoop...

1/8 cup: Good












1/4 cup: Better










At least I was smart and had the batter half made by the time I got back. It was a matter of mixing the flour in, prepping the pans, pouring and baking. Actual bedtime: 12:35pm (Oops #5).

No wonder I'm getting sick!* Duh.






*Don't worry, I always employ proper handwashing procedure in my kitchen. None of you will get sick eating my cookies...although, if you did, it would be totally worth it.

March 17: Pfeffernüsse

Yvonne: Pfeffernüsse! Pfeffernüsse! Pfeffernüsse!
Pfeffernüsse: It's showtime!

80's kids in tha house!

Ahem.

ANYway...in the quest for international cookies, I came across this recipe from Holland called Pfeffernüsse (literally pepper nuts). "Pepper nuts" tickled me in just such a way that I simply had to make this recipe.

Although similar to Basler Läckerli, Pfeffernüsse differs from its Swiss counterpart in shape, lack of icing, and the addition of two special ingredients: pepper, obviously, and cardamom. Now I've made savoury cookies before, but this recipe called for pepper in a sweet dough, so needless to say that I was now both tickled and intrigued.

Make it, roll it, bake it.

These cookies were a quick make, which served me well after an evening appointment and an episode of Ally McBeal (What? My friends all watched it in high school and I never got into it, but I finally got around to seeing what the fuss was about. Don't judge me.) found me finally getting around to baking at almost 9pm.

When they cooled, I popped one into my mouth and savoured it for a moment. The only word that would come to mind was...weird.

Was it weird good, or weird bad?

I had no idea! I mean, I liked the crunch of the almonds and the chewiness of the candied fruit, but did I like the flavour?

I leaned on the side of no, not because of the pepper, but because of the cardamom. See, much like an ex you don't want to run into, if I know large amounts of cardamom are going to be at the party, I probably won't go. However, this recipe only called for 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom, which I likened to passing that ex on the street, where you see them, but they don't see you. That's why this recipe didn't intimidate me. Dig?

Sliced open: nuts and candied fruit

Turns out that 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom is like literally running into your ex at a party; the flavour was rather strong, and by my standards unpleasant. If you like cardamom (especially cardamom cookies), however, well these cookies are for you.

What I did enjoy, however, was the pepper. I used white pepper, which left an aftertaste that my manfella--whom I predicted would not like this cookie--described as "pleasant".

Final Grade (and remember, my personal tastes are the ones doling out the grades): C. They're not a fail, I just wouldn't make them again.

You can find the recipe for Pfeffernüsse on my Recipes Page.

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