Sugar Cookies Ahoy!

Oh my god you guys (henceforth to be abbreviated OMGYG), all I've been baking lately is sugar cookies. Roller derby has been the main culprit, but I of course use the term 'culprit' loosely because I love love love doing it. However through the process of baking and decorating cookies en masse for a vendor's table, I have learned that I need to work on my time management skills. And how.

For the last derby bout I made CHOCOLATE sugar cookies, and dipped them in purple and green Merckens (which is essentially white chocolate). Think Black & White Cookie meets Rollergettes.

However, poor time management = rushing to get cookies done and out the door in time = stress = forgetting to take pictures. However I did manage to squeeze off this one:

Chocolate sugar cookie, half naked.

I'll try to get more photos of these, because they were kind of cool when the were done. I mean, chocolate cookie dipped in white chocolate? WIN.

And speaking of sugar cookies, July 9th was National Sugar Cookie Day!* The fabulous Sugar and Meringue has put together a free sugar cookie e-booklet called "Cookies for a Cause" (hmm, sound familiar?) to raise money for the Great American Bake Sale to end child hunger. It's filled with links for donating to the cause.

OMGYG, check it out.


*not an official holiday, so don't take next July 9 off work no matter how badly you want to.

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Roller Derby Cookies

A few weeks ago I set up a vendor's table at the local roller derby bout in support of our girls--Rollergettes (sounds like "roller jets", in reference to Sufferagettes!). Using the "O" from their logo and their team colours, I made these:

Round sugar cookies. Fresh out of the oven while still warm I pressed a star cookie cutter into the cookie to make my piping guideline.

Boy, did I make a lot of these cookies! About 6 or 7 dozen, I think.

First, I piped the outline of the green icing.

I let the green dry while I piped the purple.

When they were all outlined, I decided to do the flooding.
First the green flooding...
Then the purple!

When all the cookies were flooded, I filled the star with white. I packaged one of each cookie into celophane bags, tied them up with black curling ribbon (to tie the black of their logo into it) and sold them for $3 per package, or 2 for $5. I sold all but 8 of them, and gave the rest to my very good friend (and Rollergettes' volunteer) Jill, who deserves much more than cookies for all her efforts.

I used Amanda's (she's so famed she goes by one name now) Sugar Cookie and Royal Icing Substitute, and they turned out splendidly!

Science for hungry people!

Mocha Toffee Ice Cream

Previously I've mentioned how difficult it is to bake during the summer. Well it's true! We don't have air conditioning in our house--save for a window installment in the bedroom for comfortable sleeping--and when it's hot outside the last thing I want to do is make it hotter inside.

So that, paired with the fact that May was colossally busy (I should have known!), my "May Flours" mission was an absolute flop. There, I admitted it. I do, however, have several flours waiting at home for me to turn into some gluten-free wonderfulness, and as soon as I find a day where the house isn't a sauna, they're all yours babies!

In the meantime, I've been using my ice cream maker as modestly as I can, (read: it's a epic struggle against making ice cream every single day), and so far out of the three kinds of ice cream I've made, Mocha Toffee is the best.

This recipe is super easy to make since you don't have to temper eggs; just combine the ingredients, chill, and put into the ice cream maker!

I made it special for my BBQ guests over the May-24 weekend, and again when my lovely friend Jax flew from the West for a visit. I knew she'd love it, because one of our bonding activities in university was to get together late at night for study-break mochas!

Jax enjoys the crunchy toffee bits and smooth coffee chocolate flavour of my Mocha Toffee Ice Cream. Food porn!

Thanks to Cuisinart, from whom I yoinked this recipe. I'm a devoted fan!

Mars Bar Biscuits

I have a coworker from Northern Ireland (or, "NornIrn", the way her brogue curls around it) who brought in some Mars Bar Biscuits to work one day. After tasting one, my reaction was akin to this:


As she explains it, they're super-popular all over Ireland, and they're ridiculously easy to make. Although they're a Rice Krispie-based treat, they're easier to make than Rice Krispie squares, if you can believe it! Special bonus: you can very easily make this recipe Gluten-Free/Celiac safe*! You can find gluten-free/Celiac safe Krispies at any health food store, like Noah's here in Toronto.

*Although you'd think Rice Krispies are gluten-free since they are rice, they contain Malt (a barley derivative) which is not recommended for those with Celiac disease.

Step 1: Melt 4 Mars Bars together with 4oz butter. Melt on low heat JUST until all the big lumps are gone. Don't over-cook the mixture or you will carmelize your sugar and your bars will be hard instead of chewy. Trust me on this.

Step 2: Scale out 4oz of Rice Krispies, which you will weigh on your super-awesome digital scale. If you do not own a digital scale, well, what are you waiting for? Go! Right now. I'll wait.
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*plays Jeopardy music in head*
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Did you get one? Good. You are now super-awesome just for owning one. Your baking life has just gotten infinitely better, my friend.

Anyway.

Mix the 4oz of Rice Krispies into the melted Mars Bar/butter mixture. Dump the mixture into an 8x8 pan and smooth it out using a spatula.

Step 4: Melt 1 package of Hershey's Milk Chocolate chips (in the microwave or over a double boiler) and smooth them over the surface of your Krispies, like this:

Put them in the fridge to cool and solidify, but make sure you take them out of the fridge at least half an hour before you wish to cut them or the chocolate will crack. Cut them as large or small as you want, but I usually cut 5x5 which gives you over 2 dozen bars. They're smaller, but they pack a delicious punch.

Trust me on this, unless your friends hate chocolate (and why are you friends with those people anyway?), they will LOVE LOVE LOVE these. That is, if you don't eat the whole pan by yourself first!

Thanks to Barb for the easiest no-bake recipe I've ever used!

Cookie related cuteness

OMG you guys, it's a widdle iddy biddy cutie cookie kitty! *dies*

So, it's totally hard to bake when it's hot out. I've been making a lot of ice cream lately though!

Yikes.

Between my vacation, and the big BBQ on the long weekend, and now my friend Jaclyn coming to visit, May--as always--has been a whirlwind!

I've baked some goodies, but haven't gotten around to posting them yet...but they're coming! I promise!