Cookie Carnival: Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies

Hey folks, I haven't baked since before Christmas (for which my thighs are thankful). But I do have some posts to catch up on.

The first is for Cookie Carnival. In the spirit of the holidays, our leader Kate, from the Clean Plate Club, chose roll-out cookies in our choice of chocolate or vanilla. I had been wanting to find a chocolate roll-out cookie for some time, so that's the one I chose. The Chocolate Roll-Out Cookie recipe is from Dorie Greenspan and can be found----> here.

Let me tell you what happened with these cookies, it's kind of funny. In a moment of supreme pre-holiday organization, I decided to mix up all of the cookie dough for my Operation Baking Gals care package (more on that later), as well as my Cookie Carnival entry on one day. I think it was 4 or 5 recipes worth. My plan was to bake all of these cookies the next day. Well, you know the old "best laid plans of mice and men"... I got my Baking Gals cookies baked, but not the Cookie Carnival cookies. So I had this bowl of yummy, sandy, salty, chocolatey dough in my fridge for almost a week.

I'm sure you can see where this is headed.

Over that week, I kept snacking on the dough and by the time I went to bake them, there were only a few cookies worth of dough left (I had made 1/2 a batch). It actually turned out perfect because I needed some cookies for Santa. So anyway, here are all 4 cookies I made for Cookie Carnival, minimally decorated.


And how were they, you ask? Very good! They kind of reminded me of sables, in that they were a more sandy textured cookie. I would definitely make these again. I like the look of the dark chocolate cookie with the bright white cookie icing.

I used an icing recipe I picked up a long time ago during my cake and cookie decorating days. It's a modified royal icing. It sets up hard, but isn't cloyingly sweet and hard like regular royal icing.

Alice's Modified Royal Icing

1lb sifted powdered sugar
3 Tbl. Meringue Powder
5-6 Tbls water
1/2 cup butter, softened
pinch of salt

Mix meringue powder and water in a bowl using a stand mixer or hand mixer. Add the powdered sugar and mix for a few minutes. Add butter and salt and mix until well blended, several minutes.

TWD: Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas! I'm just getting back into the swing of blogging, and this week's Tuesday's with Dorie pick was a perfect excuse. On this week's menu was Tall and Creamy Cheesecake, chosen by Anne of AnneStrawberry.

(Oh, and before I get started, I'm dying to hear what everyone got for Christmas! What was your favorite gift? ...I'll share my prizes in a later post.)

I've made quite a few cheesecakes in my day, so I decided to make one of my favorite cheesecake flavors, apple cinnamon. Mmmmm... yum!


Here's what I did... first, I had some homemade apple pie filling (a canned filling such as Comstock would also work), about a half cup. (By the way, I halved the recipe and baked it in a 7-inch by 2-inch tall cake pan.)


I added about a half cup of my prepared cheesecake batter to the apples and mixed.


I set the apple cheesecake mixture aside. Then, I added half of the remaining cheesecake batter to my pan with my graham cracker crust. I layered the apple cinnamon cheesecake mixture on top of that.


I thought it looked like it needed more, so I added a little more straight apple pie filling.


Then I covered with the rest of the cheesecake batter very nearly to the top of the pan. (Notice the pan is in the water bath, but with no pesky aluminum foil wrap? That's because I don't use spring-form pans for cheesecake anymore. You can read about how I do it toward the bottom of this post.)


Finally, I sprinkled some of the cinnamony liquidy part of the filling on top, just for something different.


Since I added the liquidy apple filling, I baked for about 10-15 minutes longer to make sure the cheesecake was baked through.

I liked the splattered, artsy look on the finished cheesecake. As you can see I got some cracking, but strangely enough the cracks followed my cinnamony sprinkling. I thought it added character.


The verdict? I give it two thumbs up. I have a couple of favorite cheesecake recipes already, but I could easily add Dorie's to the list. It was light and creamy, just like I like. Oh, I forgot to say that I used half cream and half sour cream. I don't like my cheesecake tooooo tangy, just a little bit tang is fine for me.

In addition, I liked the crust. I've never pushed it up the sides before, but I really liked the look of it.

This recipe is a winner in my book. Speaking of books, please check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking: From my Home to Yours" for the recipe, or visit Anne's blog above.

No Daring Bakers

My apologies to Hilda of Saffron and Blueberry and Marion of Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. I will not be making December's Daring Bakers Challenge, the French Yule Log.

If it were any other month, I might have. But December? It just isn't in the cards.

My hat is off to all of the bakers that were up to the challenge this month. It really is a beautiful confection and I'm sure it tastes lovely.

See you next month!

TWD: Real Butterscotch Pudding

You never know what adventure, baking or otherwise, the Tuesday's with Dorie baking group might present on any given week. Take this week, for example, where the adventure included exposing my child to a double dose of sin... swearing and alcohol.

Let me back up a bit and explain. There's a store in our area called The Party Source. It's one of the greatest stores EVER. For any type of holiday or celebration, this place has got the goods.

Don't want to cook? they have food and appetizers galore. You forgot the balloon bouquet or need grass skirts for your luau party? They got 'em. Need those sample size bottles of booze because you're making REAL butterscotch with REAL Scotch, and you don't really need a $40 lifetime supply of Scotch? Gotcha covered!


So anyway... it's Sunday afternoon and I'm on a mom-and-son outing. Our destination just happens to be close to the Party Source, so I think, "great!" I'll swing by and get some Scotch (I was going to sub Brandy in my butterscotch pudding and hope for the best). So there I am with the 7-year old, trying to hustle my bustle and find the single malt Scotch amongst the collection of sample sized bottles. As I'm searching, I keep hearing my son saying, "Mom, look at the name of this one!". Oh niiiice, the Scotch section is right above the bottles of "Hot Damn", which are directly at kid eye level. He keeps pointing out the colorful names as I'm searching, searching... (what the heck is single malt scotch anyway?) I see blended scotch, I see single malt Irish whiskey, but no single malt scotch. ("Mom! Look at this one...") Finally, I grab a bottle (never did find the single malt Scotch) and got the heck out of Dodge.

I can't wait to see where my son shares this little gem of an experience. Oh, yes... He. Will. There's no doubt in my mind that this "mom took me to a liquor store" story will pop up at a moment that will ensure maximum embarrassment.

Ooooh, the things we do for Tuesday's with Dorie....


Speaking of TWD, this week's pick was by Donna of Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases. Donna chose Real Butterscotch Pudding.

And a fine pick it was! Wow, this pudding was delicious and addictive. It was a far cry from pre-made or boxed-mix pudding, which is the only butterscotch pudding I've ever tasted. I can't say I'm too crazy about the premade version, but home made? I would definitely make this again. Now I'm kind of sorry I didn't buy the lifetime supply of Scotch.

OK, Merry Christmas y'all! I hope everyone enjoys a happy, stress-free holiday. Christmas hugs to all of you wonderful bakers :)

Cranberry Chess Pie

No, not that kind of chess.

The other kind of chess... as in pie. The kind of pie typically attributed to the Southern US. There's plenty of speculation as to where the pie got it's name. The explanation I like best is the one where the sweet southern lady says "it's 'jes pie!"

I really had no idea what to expect with this recipe. I've often wondered what chess pie tasted like, and I had the ingredients on hand and leftover pie dough handy, so I went to mixin'. It was very easy to throw together.


I made two mini pies since I didn't want to waste ingredients in case it didn't turn out, or we didn't like it. It looked good coming out of the oven.


I wonder if I didn't bake it long enough. The bottom didn't seem set.


The verdict? Even though it didn't appear to be thoroughly cooked, I could still get a sense for how it tasted. It seemed like the cranberries were so tart, and the filling was so sweet, my mouth didn't know what to think. Like the flavors competed with rather than complimented each other. I wish I knew was "real" chess pie tasted like so I could form a more educated opinion.

For me, I guess the jury is still out on chess pie. I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows what it's supposed to taste like. You can find the recipe here.

OK, until next time... happy baking!

TWD: Buttery Jam Cookies

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie pick was Buttery Jam Cookies, chosen by Heather of Randomosity and the Girl.

These were a soft butter cookie, flavored with our choice of jam and a touch of ginger. From Dorie's description, I was expecting a butter cookie flavored with ribbons of sweet, fruity jam, which I was looking forward to. But it was not to be, since the jam was thoroughly mixed in.

Once I got over my disappointment about the lack of jammy ribbons, I decided I liked them. The day they were baked, the ginger was a little much, but by the second day the ginger flavor seemed to have mellowed and I enjoyed them more.

I used cherry preserves and so mine had a little extra pizazz in the form of chunks of cherry.




I would make these again, they were quite tasty. For the recipe, please check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking: From My Home to Yours", or see Heather's website, above.

OK, see you next week, when the TWD bunch attempts authentic Butterscotch Pudding... made with real butter and real Scotch (I'll have to share my Scotch buying adventure with you then.)

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

OK, I admit it, I've gained weight since I started blogging. I am so kicking myself because I had lost weight before I started. I was just about where I wanted to be, weight-wise, before my latest obsession raised its calorie-laden head.

Confessions of a yo-yo dieter.

I'm starting to wonder if it's in a women's genes to have food issues. If we're heavy, we're trying to lose weight, or if we're not trying, then we're feeling bad about ourselves. If we're losing weight, it's like a campaign, a war to be fought and won. An enemy to conquer. If we're at the weight we want to be, it's a constant vigilance to maintain. And like a candle in the wind, it can be gone in an instant. Yesterday I was fine, today I am fat.

Here's my question of the day... do you have food issues? Are you happy with your weight? Have you gained weight since you started blogging? Do guys have these issues?

Speaking of gaining weight (cough, cough) how about a slice of Sweet Potato Cheesecake? *insert cheesy smile* (I know, I know, it makes no sense to be crying about gaining weight and then talking about cheesecake. No sense at all.)



I ran across this recipe at 4 Reluctant Entertainers, a fantastic website with so many mouth-watering recipes. (Click on the link for the recipe.)

This was a luscious, creamy cheesecake. More subdued than pumpkin cheesecake, but still delicious and spicy. I served this at our Thanksgiving get-together and asked guests if they could figure out the "mystery ingredient". Everyone said pumpkin.

While I'm on the subject of cheesecake, I wanted to share one of my favorite cheesecake tips, since I've baked more than a few in my day. (I know, I'm all over the place tonight.)

Here's the deal, you don't have to bake your cheesecake in a spring-form pan, which is shocking to hear, I know. Every recipe you've ever read includes a spring-form pan, but I'm here to tell you it's not required. I never use them anymore. I always use my 2" deep cake pans. Well, except for one time I went way out on a limb and used a Wilton character pan. (FYI, I brushed it liberally with melted butter and then coated that with sugar before adding the batter to the pan.)


One really nice thing about using regular pans is that you can totally dispense with that whole "wrapping the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil" business, if you feel the need to use a water bath. In addition, you can use any size pan you want, which is helpful when you're reducing recipes, and you don't have to mess around with the bottom of the spring-form pan at serving time.

So anyway, here's what you do... line your cake pan with a piece of parchment paper cut to the size of your pan and bake your cheesecake just like you normally would. Cheesecake usually puffs up a little, but then shrinks back down, so you can fill your pan almost to the top. Cool, refrigerate overnight.

Here's Mr. Cheesecake, ready to be freed from the pan. (Please ignore that big cheesecake fart on the top.) Run your knife around the edge of the cheesecake.


Fill your sink, or a large bowl, with hot tap water (don't use boiling water, it's too hot and will melt the cheesecake) and dip the bottom inch of the pan in it. Count to 10 or 15.



Remove the pan from the water and dry the bottom of the pan.



Lay a piece of wax paper over your cheesecake.



Then a cutting board.



Place your hands on top of the cutting board and under the pan, and flip the whole thing over.


OK, people, this is the part that might be scary, but just trust me on this. Pick up the pan and cutting board and give it a good whack on the counter. Cheesecake out yet? No? Repeat a few more times. If Mr. Cheesecake is still in the pan, it's time to show him who's boss. Pick up the pan by itself, still upside down, and give it a good healthy whack on the cutting board. If that doesn't work, go back and warm up the pan bottom a bit longer and repeat the steps.

It's not as intimidating as it sounds. I've never had a cheesecake stick to the pan.

Here he is... free! (That's the bottom, in case you wondered.) Now go get your serving plate, place it upside down on the bottom and flip it over.


Voila!


So there you go, you're no longer a slave to your spring-form pan.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I have been cutting back on the amount of sweets that pass my lips. I've been halving, and sometimes even quartering, recipes, sharing with neighbors, and (gasp!) even throwing away some of the leftovers, especially with those recipes that are only marginal.

OK, later!