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Tag Archives: Cookies and Bars
Almond flour and sugar is gently folded with egg whites to create the French macaron. Nestled between the delicate cookies is a slight layer of nutty but chocolatey Nutella.
I have to admit I have been eavesdropping on a Twitter conversation between, Jamie, Deeba, Hilda, Aparna, Barbara, Meeta, Ilva, Shelley, Erin, Deborah, Rachael, and Ria the past couple of weeks. Okay, I do have better things to do with my time then listen in on things that have nothing to do with me, but they were chatting about one of my favorite things to nosh on, The French Macaron. Finally, I could not stand it any longer and I tweeted Rachael and asked what was taking place? How did I miss this mac-a-thon and how could I get involved, not that I needed another reason to bake something! Being as sweet as she is, she told me to tweet Jamie for all the info, so I did!
This wonderful group of bloggers are attempting to perfect the macaron, the French macaron, by using one of the queens of macarons, recipe, Helen of Tartelette. Now since I was a little behind, they are posting today, the 15th, I had to take jump on it and decided only to make one round of macs using Helen’s recipe. We were suppose to make the basic shell and fill with a chocolate ganache. Everything was right on track, egg whites sat out for 24 hours, the batter came together beautifully, the macs looked so pretty on the baking sheet, they came out of the oven looking the best they ever have (mine usually look like dreidels), they had feet, yes, they had feet and then after they cooled, I attempted to remove them from the baking sheet and their feet, legs and all, stayed behind! What went WRONG? I think I should have baked maybe one more minute (Jamie suggested this as well) or maybe it was the humidity in the air? I had one left that was nearly perfect, well, it had a top and bottom, the rest, well, let’s just say they make nice little noshes with a hot cup of coffee!
*disclaimer, I did not, I say DID NOT make a batch of ganache for this photo shoot, I used nutella.
Recipe: Macarons
Delicate Lemon Verbena flavors these traditional French Madeline to make a light and airy dessert or afternoon snack.
We have or I should say “had” an abundance of Lemon Verbena growing outside our kitchen door, which was a pure delight. I love to open the door in the morning and smell the wetness of the evening and sweetness of the verbena while having that first sip of espresso. I noticed over the weekend that someone or something has been chewing on the leaves. Ever so tenderly, they are eating just pieces of each small leaf. So, I grabbed some kitchen shears and saved what I could and then trimmed back the plant – I hope it does not die. With the small bowl of delicate leaves I made a simple syrup and thought about what I could make for Andrea‘s GYO event this month…..
Lenny is heading to Boston and it is his mother’s birthday, I know she loves these sweet little cookies, so I baked up a batch of madelines. I used David Lebovitz’s recipe, minus the lemon glaze, instead I dipped each little cookie in the simple syrup before delicately wrapping. The lemon verbena is lovely with this delicate cookie as it gives it a slightly lemony as well as a bit of a spicy bite, similar to basil, mixed with the sweetness of sugar; it reminds me of a late summer afternoon, light, sunny and very warm.
I am submitting this to Andrea‘s GYO event. It has been awhile since I have had the time to really participate in one of my favorite “food blog events”. Andrea’s has been one of my favorite events as it gives us a chance to showcase what we grown in our gardens, whether it is from an urban dwelling or a large garden out in the country. As well it brings all of us together from all over the world – it is really nice to see what people from every corner of the world are enjoying at the same time.
Buttery Coconut Thins are a simple cookie recipe to have on hand as they are a delight not only to eat but to make.
*disclaimer .. the shortest post we have ever made & we are apologizing now.
Tuesdays with Dorie time … how we love Tuesdays! Jayne of the Barefoot Kitchen Witch picked Coconut Butter Thins for this week’s challenge. I was going to sit it out, only because we are swamped at work, but when I read the ingredient list, I knew I had to make it – coconut, lime zest & macadamia nuts. I love the three together. Reminds me of a tropical drink on a sunny beach.
Unfortunately, when I went to the store to get all the ingredients, they were out of the nuts. The only other addition I made was cardamon, I thought it would go great with the coconut and the lime – I was right! As well, the recipe called for cutting the cookie dough into squares, but I thought they would be fun to make circles. So I rolled the dough into a log and let it chill over night – easy bake slice cookies.
The cookies are lightly crisp, buttery and scented just like a tropical day at the beach. They reminded me of a new and improved girl scout cookie – will definitely be making these again!
On our way home yesterday, Maggie (the littlest M of MEM) said that she wanted to make “real” cookies not “pretend” ones, when we got home. I could not think of a better idea for a rainy afternoon.
From the suggestion of Evelyn we decided to make the Barefoot Contessa Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe instead of my usual Toll House. It is similar to the traditional Toll House recipe, except there is more brown sugar and less granulated sugar and flour. Also, you use chunks instead of chips and you get to use lots of them! I have to say one can not go wrong with lots of butter, brown sugar and chocolate. The cookies were thinner and crispier, which makes for a better dunking cookie for that glass of milk or cup of coffee. Maggie, this was the perfect afternoon project for a rainy day!
Speaking of Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, we had the honor of meeting her at the Fancy Food Show this past Monday. We talked to her for a bit and she even let us snap this picture. Ms. Garten was a delight. She is soft spoken and very sweet as well she seemed interested in what we are doing at Chez Us (maybe she was just being nice ); regardless it was fantastic to meet the woman who is hanging out with us in our pjs every Saturday morning!
Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 1/4 pounds semisweet chocolate chunks
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the butter with the mixer on low speed, mixing only until combined. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chunks.
Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a 1 3/4 inch- diameter ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for exactly 15 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
My friend Evelyn, introduced me to the tradition of making the “baby dinner” for a couple who has a baby. I thought it was such a great tradition to have, that I started doing it for friends who have a baby. The whole concept is really easy, make a homemade meal, package it up nicely and drop it off for the new parents. This way they have something home cooked to eat and have to do little preparing. Our baby dinners are pretty much the same, homemade pesto (enough for them to enjoy and freeze), some quality pasta, occasionally I toss in a package of great sausage, salad with homemade vinaigrette, a bottle of wine and a dessert. Dessert, is usually the highlight of the meal it seems. I usually make these outrageous brownies and once in awhile lemon bars. People love getting this gift and it really puts a big smile on their faces more so then another receiving blanket would.
Our friends, Daniel & Samantha had a baby boy, Dashiell, right before the holidays. With Christmas, New Years and traveling we never got a chance to take the “baby dinner” over until recently. This particular dinner I made a nontraditional Pesto, this batch was made with spinach, arugula and toasted walnuts. I did not get a chance to try it on pasta but on the spoon it was pretty good. Since we have pounds upon pounds of grapefruit I decided to make something else that is nontraditional with the “baby dinners”, I made grapefruit with candied ginger bars. Thanks to the twitters I got with ideas, so I added the ginger which was a great addition. I made a traditional sable crust for the base of the bars. Then I made an ultra rich topping of grapefruit juice, lots of zest, eggs (lots), sugar and flour. The bars came out gooey (in a good way), a little tart and a little spicy, a bit too sweet (will cut the sugar down next time), they had a slightly crispy crust and overall, they were fantastic! Definitely one to something good here!
Recipe: Grapefruit Bars
Crust
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
1½ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons cold water
Filling
¾ cup all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup grapefruit juice
Zest from grapefruit
3 tablespoons minced candied ginger
5 eggs
Crust
Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Sift confectioner’s sugar into the bowl of a food processor fitted with dough attachment. Add the flour and pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse to combine. Add water and pulse until smooth dough forms. Press into the prepared pan evenly into the bottom and about ½ inch up the sides of the pan. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake until the crust turns a deep golden brown about 30 minutes.
While the crust is baking prepare your filling. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, with the whisk attachment, add the sugar and whisk until blended. Add the grapefruit juice, zest and ginger and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk until blended. When the crust is ready, remove from the oven, take out the pie weights and pour the filling onto the hot crust. No need to let it cool. Reduce the heat to 300 and bake for 45 minutes or until the center is not jiggly. Let cool completely before slicing and cutting. You may dust with more confectioner’s sugar before serving. Serve. Eat.
TWD (Tuesdays with Dorie) has been a bit relaxed this month, which was a very nice break, with all the holiday obligations this month. When I saw that Ulrike of Kuchenlatein had picked sugar cookies, I knew that this challenge would have to wait until I was at my sister’s so I could make the cookies with my 4 year old nephew.
I have an all time favorite sugar cookie recipe, but after making this one, I have to say that once again Dorie has not let me down and I have a new favorite. I loved that the dough was not overly sweet and it rolled beauitfully for cut out cookies. We had so much fun cutting them out and so much fun eating the vanilla scented dough right from the bowl; isn’t that what aunts are for?
We decided not to only use sprinkles but to also decorate them with a buttery butter cream frosting as well. Very good recipe, I just hope we can save some for Santa!
Be sure to pour a big glass of milk and check out all the other TWD cookies this holiday season! As well don’t forget about our holiday gift away and Menu for Hope!
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Speaking of sugar cookies – it has been raining sugar cookies for us this holiday season. Be sure to check out all the sugarly fun we had the last couple of weeks!
Ella making sugary sweet angels!
I have been making cookies with MEM for the last 7 years! Every year they get better and more creative. I always look forward to seeing their creative minds at work as well as the sugared lips (or should I say colored) from eating more frosting then what goes on the cookies! The MEM sugar cookies festival!
Heather with Randomosity and the Girl, chose this TWD recipe. My sister (who is not a baker) needed a cookie to take to a party so I made these for her. The recipe is very straight forward and easy, in fact I can see this becoming a come to recipe when I need a quick cookie. I did use apricot jam as I like the sweetness of it but I also thought marmalade would make a wonderful addition. There is no shaping involved it is a drop cookie that bakes up very nicely! I wish I could tell you how it tastes, I will later, but right now I have the flu and a cookie is the last thing I want unfortunately!
Thanks Heather for picking such an easy holiday cookie! Be sure to check out all the other Tuesdays With Dorie cookies this month!
Ice Cream? Why you will! This is the best ice cream we have made all year – not kidding! Let’s get churning …..
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