Peppermint Macarons

Macarons are a finicky little treat.  One of the top questions on Google on macarons is why they are so expensive.  Anyone who has attempted or made these delicate meringue treats knows the answer to that question.  One wrong move and and you have a big pile of goop.

I might have had a few five fails before I was able to bring this together.  I actually checked out books from the library on macrons and I have to say, those books, which shall remain nameless here, make it way more difficult than necessary.

Last week I happened to have a couple of leftover egg whites that I let sit on the counter overnight.  I completely forgot about them and came down the next morning to find them looking sad and taunting me to give the macrons another try, after swearing them off after my last fail.  I looked up a recipe on pinterest that did not require weighing and was very simple.  Guess what?  They actually worked.  The recipe is here.

I used a basic buttercream filling, threw in some peppermint oil and rolled the sides in crushed candy canes.  The end result was delicious, although I do need to work on smoothing out the tops of the macaron shell.  Taking pictures of my work keeps me honest and those little bumps in the picture above are bothering me as I write.

White Chocolate Oatmeal Cherry Cookies - Crazy Monday

Monday mornings are never easy but it seemed like a cloud was hanging over this house yesterday.

One of the dogs had an accident, then my son fell halfway down the stairs before school and it sounded a little like this.  I ended up having to drive him to school and on the way back my allergies decided to take a hit out on me and I ended up looking like Rocky after taking on Apollo Creed...the first time.

To top it off, I rushed into my house racing for the computer for a call I had scheduled and tripped over a pair of shoes and went flying into a chair in the dining room, doing further damage to my already blown out eyes.  After binge watching The Crown, I realize everyone has their problems but I did feel a little more jinxed than normal for a Monday. 

Oh well.  At least I have cookies.  Life is good.

Viennese Whirls - U.S. version

I am a Great British Baking Show fanatic and I am finally getting around to watching season 4.

There was a technical challenge in the second show for Viennese Whirls.  Two delicate, buttery shortbread like cookies with buttercream and jam in the middle.  Since this was the rare technical challenge that did not require elaborate ingredients or construction techniques, I thought I would make a go of it, as they say.

When I went to look up the recipe, I could not find any with American oven temperatures or measuring techniques.  There was one on the PBS website but even that one said that it had not been tested.  Converting measurements is about as much fun to me as watching paint dry but I really wanted to try this bake.

I found out that grams do not translate perfectly into our cups and spoons.  So, my conversions are below but I would highly recommend measuring the ingredients with a scale.  It's also a lot easier just to dump the ingredients into a bowl until you hit the number you need rather than juggling multiple measuring cups.

Also, if you make this, do not do what I did and put the dough in the fridge overnight before piping.  HUGE mistake.  The dough must be mixed well and extremely soft in order to fit through the piping back tip.  Once you pipe, then the whirls should go into the fridge to harden a bit before going into the oven in order to hold that whirl shape.

Peanut Blossom Cookies

There are times when I am doing well with daily meditation and finding inner peace.  In a world gone mad, focusing on my breath calms me more than anything else I have ever tried.

That is, until the streets of Oak Park became a scene out of Mad Max in the early morning hours as I drove home from my morning ass-kicking, better know as Pilates.  As I was savoring the worn out but feeling stronger aura that ones gets from Pilates, some jerk swerved out from behind me, almost hit me and then swerved in front of me.  Inner peace flew out the window and I laid on my horn.  So, I am annoyed that the peace and inner calm vibe I had going was shattered and that I allowed a crazy driver to disrupt my zen state.  Should have reacted like this guy.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Cookies

As much as I think Christina Tosi is a baking pioneer and genius, I was not crazy about the Blueberry Cream cookie that I bought from the Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC a couple of years ago.  This could be because it was pre-packaged and had been baked a while ago but it just didn't grab me.  I loved the idea, though.  I thought it just needed a little punch of flavor.  Cream cheese seemed like a perfect accompaniment seeing as cream cheese on a blueberry bagel is quite tasty.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

This is rare but there are times when I think I know more than the legions of cooks and bakers who came before me.  There is not a Mexican Wedding Cookie recipe out there that instructs melting the butter before mixing with the other ingredients.  Being the brilliant master of the cookie that I thought I was (NOT), I thought I could make this cookie even nuttier by doing a brown butter version which entails melting then browning the butter.  The crumbly mess that ensued made my kitchen counter look like the cookies exploded.  So, pro tip, let the butter soften naturally to room temperature and then proceed with the rest of the recipe.  

Spiced Molasses Cookies - Christmas Cookie Countdown

It's that time of year.  How many cookie posts can I do before Santa hits our house?  My goal is 24 but I realize that is ambitious.  I am also aware that Friday is December 1st, not today, but I had to leave Friday for the cocktails.  Maybe next week I will be really wild and crazy and do a cocktail and cookie post.  I don't know if I am that adventurous.  You will just have to tune in to find out.😉

Oatmeal Scotchies

I recently went to parent teacher conferences.  These would be my first for my son who is now in middle school.  Ouch.  So not fun when you have a kid who doesn't always think before acting is a free spirit.  I need cookies more than a drink and my kid certainly needs some sugar therapy after having to also sit through the criticism.

Potato Chip Cookies and Iowa Caucus Night

Iowa caucus night!!  Woohoo!  Election season is here and we are off to the races.  Can you feel the excitement?  I can!  Is there anything better in this great country than election season?  Um, NOOOOO!  I don't watch sports or go to church because politics is my religion.

Eggnog Cake Cookies

Eggnog Cake Cookies

Can we talk about pain for a moment?  Pain is what happens when you are, oh say, 39, haven't worked out in about three months and then decide that you are going to finally get back to The Dailey Method class that you haven't been to since you purchased that five class package over the summer when you were feeling motivated.  I am now still feeling pain in muscles I was not even aware existed.  This says two things, 1) I am lazy and deserve this pain and 2) the class is incredibly effective.  I do this because I want to be able to bend over and touch my toes when I am 70 and for reasons I don't fully understand, after I take the class, I am at peace with myself and the world around me.  Considering my anal nature and tendency to overthink and stress about anything and everything, achieving inner peace, even if it is temporary, is an achievement.    

Chocolate on Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie

Chocolate on Chocolate on Chocolate

This is the only chocolatey chocolate chip cookie recipe you will need.  The original recipe is from the Momofuku Milk Bar book but I had to make some alterations.  Christina Tosi has an obsession with corn syrup and glucose and that is a bandwagon I refuse to join.  In my mind, those ingredients are unnecessarily sweet and a poor substitute for actual sugar.  Perhaps she uses it to cut costs in mass production or to make the cookies look shiny.  I don't know why she does it but I am out.  So, I used Pure Maple Syrup where she calls for glucose and the results were fabulous.  I also added in chocolate chips because I like to feel the chocolate melting on my tongue.

The Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookie

Compost Cookie

I made this cookie for the first time a couple years ago and never posted it.  I have since made it several times and still, no post.  So, I finally have this up.  This, how should I describe, jacked up cookie, was adapted from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook.  Although I love the Momofuku recipes, I have to modify almost all of them.  I have an aversion to glucose and corn syrup and this book includes those two ingredients liberally.  Don't worry, this cookie is plenty sweet without the extra sugar nudge.

Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cookies

After two weeks of trying to keep my head above water at work, being a crazed loving Mom, getting my running in, all while trying to cover up stress blemishes and barely being awake enough to make myself presentable in the morning, I need these cookies, badly. It takes a lot of work to put on the, keeping all the balls in the air act. Therefore, there is not enough chocolate on this planet to sooth my worn out soul.

I am not complaining. I am medicating and I believe in chocolate and cocktails to do so and this cookie has a little bit of both. This is a cakey cookie that I hit with some Tia Maria coffee liqueur but you can obviously use whatever you have on hand. I also put in some strong coffee that I had left over from the morning and it really boosted the flavor. Excellent and may I add, moan inducing. xo - AJ

Lime in the Coconut Madeleines

I had an epiphany today. I realized that I make food the way I live my life. I can never just stick with the recipe, I always have to add a little something extra.

When I was growing up, when other kids ordered chocolate or vanilla ice cream, I ordered Rocky Road. One time I got in trouble and my teacher made me write out a bunch of sentences that were on the chalk board and I wrote them all in chalk on my blue-lined notebook paper. I was amused, she most certainly was not. While everyone else took "straight jobs" or went off to grad school after college, I went to work on the campaign trail which entailed living out of my car and filing taxes in eight states in one year. As I write this, I think to myself, what kind of deranged nut am I?

Good news is that I have come to terms with being a little bit off-kilter. I have also come to terms with the abundance of freckles on my face, my thighs (ok, not completely but I am getting better), my nose that always looks off-center in pictures and the refusal of the scale needle to move to the left instead of the right. I would never want to look as perfect and therefore as boring as Holly.

Oreo Truffles

You have to love a person who follows a detox salmon recipe with Oreo truffles. Perhaps I should add hypocrite to my self-proclaimed study in contrasts title. Oh well, I never said I was perfect or consistent, far from both.

I was first introduced to these sinful darlings a few years ago by a work colleague. I remember tasting it in the hallway outside of my office and I think I might have heard angels singing when I took my first bite. Far from the truffles of French fame, these consist of ground up Oreos and cream cheese which are then dunked in chocolate. Bliss!

These sweet treats are now standard at all work holiday gatherings, showers and every other party we hold in the communal kitchen. Make them for your own work colleagues and I guarantee quick turn-around on those TPS reports. Enjoy! AJ

Ingredients:

1 package (1 lb. 2oz) regular Oreo cookies (not double stuff), finely crushed

1 package ( 8oz) cream cheese, softened

2-8 ounce packages milk or semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Method:

Mid 3 cups of the crushed cookies and cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 1-inch balls. It should make approximately 42 balls.

Dip balls into melted chocolate and place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Refrigerate 1 hour until firm.

Blondies

Sinful, my darlings. Absolutely sinful. That is the word my Mother so aptly used to describe these treats and I have to agree. On a side note, I think I should get some extra props for writing this post with a little dog resting on my arms. Ever type on a laptop with a dog on your arms? Didn't think so and let me tell you, it's a special trick.

Anyway, back to the blondies. I made these after a particularly trying day in single parent land with a very willful little man testing every last ounce of patience I had in me. This is why cooking is so wonderful. I was at the end of my rope, felt myself starting to lose it and I did what any sensible yet strung out Mom would do in this situation, I took out a bowl, butter and sugar and figured out what to make.

What is the comfort treat that only tastes better with more alcohol poured into it? Blondies baby, blondies all the way. I immediately broke out the Bourbon and chocolate chips. Since I was in a rebel type of mood, I also brought out the coconut just for kicks and giggles. All into a bowl, mixed with vigor to get the stress out, hit it with the Bourbon, took a swig for myself, into the baking dish and waited rather impatiently.

If I could make a suggestion at this juncture, it would be this; when those blondies come out of the oven hot and steamy, cut yourself a piece, throw on some vanilla ice cream and top with coffee or Bourbon. Eat and listen to the angels singing. Enjoy!

Blondies

Adapted from Baking, From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:
2 heaping cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Bourbon
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1 package Heath Toffee Bits
1 cup coarsely chopped and toasted pecans
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Method:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray PAM into a 9x13 baking dish.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Beat the butter until light and smooth. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla and Bourbon. Reduce the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated. Do not overmix! Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, nuts, toffee and coconut. Scrape the mixture into the baking dish and smooth out as best you can.

Bake for about 50 minutes with an electric oven. If you have a gas oven, starting checking around 40 minutes and remove when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is a honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack cool for about 15 minutes, cut and serve.

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Time to get serious. There comes a point in your life when the tinker toys are put away, the training wheels come off and we become adults. Granted, being an adult is an action item that I try not to take too seriously. However, like doctor's appointments and root canal, once in a while I have to dip my feet into that end of the swimming pool but I am sure not happy about it. That said, there is one adult thing I do very happily and that is raising my son. As such, I felt a need to post a man's man recipe and bacon cookies seemed like something that I would find on Paul Bunyan's plate and therefore, very manly. As you can see from the photos, my little man is a man in training with my apron on and practicing his phenomenal skills as a sifter of magnet letters. No, this little sous-chef is not available for hire, he is all mine.

Oddly, there were mixed reviews on these cookies but they mostly came from the traditionalist sect of my friends. The real adventurous types gobbled these bad boys up like little kids tasting chocolate for the first time. They are a mix of salty and sweet, very moist with huge hits of deep chocolate that provide a nice contrast to the bacon. They are not as sweet as plain chocolate chip cookies and have a more hearty and robust feel to them.

Finally, to answer the question I was asked most from family and friends as to how I would come up with such a concoction; the answer is a friend recently turned me on to chocolate covered bacon. The more I tasted it the more I thought of the endless possibilities that fantastic combination had. In addition, I recently had breakfast at a charming little restaurant in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago called Nightwood. What really stuck out on their menu was the amazing warm bacon butterscotch donut. How good were they? Let's just say that the waiter came over when there was a quarter of the donut left, asked if he could take it away and I went a little overboard and shouted, "NO!" Yep, I succeeded in scaring the ever-living daylights out of a young kid just trying to make a buck. What was I supposed to do? Those donuts melted in my my mouth and had a mixture of warm salty sweetness that made me swoon with delight. Take it away? Was he nuts? He should know better than to try and part a woman from her sweets. He's young though, he'll learn...hopefully. xoxo - AJ

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
4 oz semisweet chocolate bar, diced
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chopped
3 tablespoons milk chocolate, grated
1 cup bacon that's been brushed with maple syrup, fried until crispy and diced into roughly 1/4" pieces
1 cup pecans chopped, toasted and tossed with 1/4 cup light brown sugar

Method:

Adjust your oven rack to the middle position. Pre-heat to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Heat 10 tablespoons of butter in a 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly. Watch this carefully - butter can go from brown to burned very quickly. When butter is dark-golden brown and has a nutty aroma, remove from heat and immediately transfer to a heatproof bowl. Stir the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into hot butter until melted.

Add granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until completely mixed. Add egg and egg yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth and there are no lumps of sugar remaining.

Let sugar/egg/butter mixture stand for a few minutes. Then whisk again for 30 seconds. Do this several times - you want to make sure that the sugar has "melted" into the liquid. When ready, mixture will be smooth, thick and shiny.

Using wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in grated chocolate, chocolate chunks, chocolate chips and bacon pieces. Don't overmix but make sure no flour pockets remain.

Using a teaspoon, place a heaping teaspoon of cookie dough on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-14 minutes until cookies are golden-brown and set along the edges but the middle is still soft. Remove from oven and set baking sheet on a wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cookies

So, I received a request...ok, maybe not so much a request as a complaint. I volunteer at a homeless shelter one to two days a month and during the holidays, one of the patrons looked at the holiday cookie dessert display and remarked that they he could never find good peanut butter cookies. This was a guy who was already clearly down on his luck and among the hard knocks in life, would it be so much to ask to have a decent peanut butter cookie? I think not. I told him that I would be back on New Year's and that I would bring him the best Peanut Butter Cookies that I could find a recipe for.

Despite my promise to the gentleman at the shelter, I am not usually a fan of peanut butter cookies but I think that's because I never had a homemade version before I made these. Tragic I know but I have to say that these cookies seriously made up for the lack of homemade in my life. These gems pack some serious peanut punch; they were soft in the middle with a light crunch on the outside and they melt like butter in your mouth. Once again, it is a miracle that these even made it into the oven. Along those lines let me just say that I consider my myself a batter (cake, cookies, cupcakes, etc.) connoisseur and among all of the wonderful batters of the world, this one ranks near the top. xoxo - AJ

Recipe adapted from "The New Best Recipe", from the Editors of Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup Skippy extra-crunchy peanut butter
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup salted dry-roasted peanuts, ground in a food processor to resemble bread crumbs

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a bowl; set aside.

Beat the butter in an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugars, beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl as necessary. Beat in the peanut butter until fully incorporated, then the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture. Add the ground peanuts and stir gently until incorporated.

Roll tablespoon size pieces of batter into balls and place them on the cookie sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart. Press each dough down with a fork to make a crisscross design. Be sure to dip the fork into cold water before pressing on the dough to prevent sticking.

Bake 10-12 minutes until puffed and slightly browned around the edges but not on top. Cool on sheet for about a few minutes and transfer to newspaper or wire rack to cool completely.

Homemade Nutter Butters

Here I go again with the cookie aisle making an appearance on my blog under the premise that I can make the familiar favorites into prodigious caricatures of themselves. See the Adult Oreos post from November for reference.

I blame my unusual obsession with what I call snack food aisle cookies on my childhood. I grew up in a house that was perpetually on a diet which meant that all forms of junk food were not allowed through the front door except on special occasions. That said, a part of me is actually glad that sweets were not in the house because frankly, I am not crazy about them as I think they taste processed and artificial. However, I do love the concept; a creamy peanut butter filling between two peanut butter cookies, what's not to like? So, like chocolate chip cookies which I truly believe should only be homemade with lots of love, I believe these types of cookies should also be homemade with lots of love.

This recipe make a lot of cookies so this is fair warning. Half the recipe if you are not feeding an army. xoxo - enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Thomas Keller of Bouchon Bakery

Cookie Dough

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter, preferably Skippy
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup coarsely chopped unsalted peanuts
2 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Filling

1/4 pound (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, preferably Skippy
1 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar sifted

Make the cookie dough: preheat over to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together with a fork the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter. Add sugars and beat at medium speed for 4 minutes, scraping down the bowl a few times.

At low speed, add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Fold in peanuts and oats and until completely combined with a rubber spatula.

Place tablespoon sized balls onto a baking sheet about three inches apart. Bake until cookies have spread and are light golden brown, about 11 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet at least 15 minutes before transferring to a rack or newspaper to cool completely before adding filling.

For the filling; cream together butter, peanut butter and confectioners' sugar using an electric mixer until completely smooth.

To assemble, spread a thin layer of the filling an underside of a cookie and sandwich with another cookie.

Fruitcake Cookies

I am definitely a member of the masses when it comes to poking fun at fruitcake. The fact that it feels like a lead weight that could easily break a window coupled with the lack of taste truly makes it food for fodder.

So why would I make fruitcake cookies? First, as you have probably noticed, I put an unusual amount of trust in Ina Garten and everything she puts in her recipe books. These cookies are from Barefoot Contessa at Home and I was intrigued that she would attempt any recipe with such a dubious reputation. If anyone can make fruitcake palatable, Ina can. I was also interested in the idea of making fruitcake into a cookie and thought, maybe the high volume of candied fruits, alcohol and nuts is just too overwhelming to a cake. The cake is trying to hold all of these elements together and screaming for mercy. Perhaps something with a cookie-like consistency and shape is exactly what is needed to make fruitcake something that is tolerable.

So, with all of that said, I present to you the fruitcake cookie. My verdict on these is that they are most definitely better than typical fruitcake. In terms of taste I would not put them ahead of chocolate chip cookies or macaroons but they have that candied/spice flavor that I love simply because it just tastes like the holidays. I will probably make these again for that reason along with the fact that they truly do look like a jeweled cookie which I adore for the holiday season. These are also excellent to transport and keep well over a long period of time. Give them a try and please enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Ingredients:

1/2 pound dried figs
1/4 pound raisins
2 ounces candied cherries, coarsely chopped
2 ounces dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons very dry sherry
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 ounces chopped pecans
Kosher salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

Snip off the hard stems of the figs with scissors or a small knife and coarsely chop the figs. In a medium bowl, combine the figs, raisins, cherries, apricots, honey, sherry, lemon juice, pecans, and a pinch of salt. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit overnight at room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, cloves, superfine sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg and mix until incorporated. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt just until combined. Add the fruits and nuts, including any liquid in the bowl. Divide the dough in half and place each half on the long edge of a 12 by 18-inch piece of parchment or waxed paper. Roll each half into a log, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4-inch thick, making an 18-inch-long roll. Refrigerate the dough for several hours, or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

With a small, sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place the slices 1/2-inch apart on ungreased sheet pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden.