JAMSquared

Last week was KidStuf week at SHPC. I had been eyeing this recipe and thought it would be good since I could give half to KidStuf and keep half for us. James and I both liked them, but they are a slightly crispy cookie and James prefers softer cookies. Somewhat similar to my Mom’s Sugar Drop Cookies, but crispy.

Cinnamon Crackle Cookies

Cinnamon Crackle Cookies

Source: The Taste of Home Baking Book, but you can also find a printer-friendly version here

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel (I omitted since I didn’t have any oranges)
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (I used slightly more since I omitted orange peel)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• additional sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, softening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tartar, nutmeg, orange and lemon peel and salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture.

Shape into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350°F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Yield: 6 dozen (I only got 5.5 dozen.)

Ready to Go in the Oven

I recently joined the committee at SHPC that makes dessert for the KidStuf Program, a monthly extravaganza for parents to engage kids more deeply in conversations about scripture and our Christian faith. For February, I made these Peppermint Pinwheels, a refrigerator cookie. I saw this recipe on a Food Network special before Christmas and I thought the red and white cookies would also be good for Valentine’s Day. I gave most of them to the KidStuf Program and saved some for James to take to work in his lunch.  They were quite tasty (we also had a few the night I baked them) and were really pretty easy to make.

Peppermint Pinwheels

Peppermint Pinwheels

Source: Food Network

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (I used mint extract since I didn’t have any peppermint)
• 1 teaspoon red food coloring

Directions:

In medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder; set aside. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and beat until incorporated. Add teh vanilla and peppermint extract. Gradually add the dry mixture, beating until combined. Remove half of the mixture from the bowl. Add food coloring, beating until fully combined. In waxed paper, roll out dough to form a large rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat this step with the uncolored dough. Refrigerate 2 hours.

Tear out 1 sheet of waxed or parchment paper. Sprinkle surface with confectioner’s sugar to prvent sticking. Very carefully, slide the red dough on top of the white dough. Trim edges if uneven and patch is necessary. Roll dough into a log, creating a swirl effect. Place the dough back in the refrigerator and let chill for 2 hours. To prevent a flat bottom place in round glass and lay glass on side in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Slice the dough into 1/4-inch slices and place on a parchment lined sheet about 1-inch apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

Yield: 3 dozen

Slicing Cookies

Baking in the Oven

I’ve been meaning to try out this cookie recipe for a while. Jessica’s baptism brunch/lunch was a perfect opportunity. They turned out terrific. I really liked the slightly crispy cookies (a larger cookie scoop might make them chewier), but James wasn’t the biggest fan, so I won’t be making them for just our household as it’s probably not a good idea for me to eat that many cookies.

Oatmeal Surprise Cookies

Oatmeal Surprise Cookies

Source: Simple & Delicious Sept/Oct 2009

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 2 3/4 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate-covered raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Combine the flour, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in oats and raisins.

Drop by tablespoons 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Flatten slightly. Bake at 350°F for 13-15 minutes (for me 10 minutes) or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 3 dozen (I actually ended up with almost 6 dozen.)

Oatmeal Surprise Cookies Ready to Go in the Oven

In addition to the Orange Bundt Cake and these Oatmeal Surprise Cookies, I prepared the Ham Florentine Wreath and Melon Fruit Slush previously blogged about when I hosted a bridal shower for Julia. I also made a turkey and mozzarella bread, a fruit salad with a honey poppy seed dressing (I will tweak the dressing recipe and share later) and Paula Dean’s Mini Phyllo Cups Filled with Shrimp Salad. The shrimp salad cups were delicious, but I wish I had made more than 36 cups as I had leftover shrimp salad although it was still tasty on a roll for my lunch. My Mom helped out by bringing a Pumpkin Cranberry Bread she baked.

On Saturday the 12th (the same day we did our Christmas photo shoot), Kristy, Stephanie, Paramjit, and I baked cookies in Kristy’s kitchen. Kristy made us each a neat apron with our initial on the top. We each picked two recipes to bake, although we only ended up baking 7 cookie recipes. We were there for about 10 hours, although that time did include lunch, dinner, and a photo shoot. Next year, we will not pick 5 recipes that require rolling out.

Jennifer, Stephanie, Kristy and Paramjit

The two recipes I picked were Chocolate Mint Wafers and Confetti Cookies. The Chocolate Mint Wafers were tasty, but I’m not sure I will make them again. The recipe for the Confetti Cookies came out of my Nanny’s recipe box. They were extremely tasty and I will have to make them again soon.

Confetti Cookies

Confetti Cookies

Source: Nanny’s recipe box

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup shortening (I used butter-flavored)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cut-up small gum-drops (technically, I used spice drops)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

In large bowl, cream sugars, shortening, eggs and vanilla. In separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda (do not sift). Add to creamed mixture. Stir in gum drops and pecans; mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. If desired, dot tops with additional cut-up gum drops. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 5-6 dozen

Future Baker

Jessica observed our mad baking skills from her spot on the bar in her bouncer. Thanks Nick for providing the pictures.

Last night I was in a baking mood, so I made cookies for James. He had been giving me a hard time about the “excessive” quantity of chocolate chips I had squirreled away in the pantry, so I took out the package of Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips I had purchased one time specifically for him (ya’ll know about his affinity for mint flavored desserts). I looked on the back of the package and the cookie recipe sounded good, so I decided to try it out. The recipe was really easy and the cookies tasted delicious. James gave them his seal of approval. Now, he has a bunch of cookies to munch on at the hospital, assuming I ever go into labor (induction will occur Friday if baby JAM doesn’t decide to show up earlier).

Andes Crème de Menthe Cookies

Andes Crème de Menthe Cookies

Source: back of the bag and here

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened (I actually use unsalted)
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 10-oz. package Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips
• 2 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Directions:

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed. Stir in Andes baking chips and then flour. Chill approximately one hour in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Measure out approximately 1 ounce of dough (I used a cookie scoop to get even size scoops). Form ball, place on non-stick baking pans and slightly flatten (I used the bottom of a drinking glass to slightly flatten). Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Remove to cooling racks.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies