Spice Cookies

I made these light gingerbreads this week. Quite good, not too sweet. Though the recipe says they are soft mine went crispy after they cooled down.


Soft Molasses Cookies

* 1 cup molasses
* 1/2 cup soft brown sugar
* 1/2 cup butter
* 2 tablespoons sour cream
* 1/2 cup boiling water
* 3 cups plain/all purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon ginger
* 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5

Put the molasses and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter to boiling water and when it is melted, add to the molasses. Add the sour cream and blend. Add the other ingredients and blend well. Let the mixture stand for one hour in a cold place so it will thicken

Drop by teaspoonful onto a greased baking tray. Leave room for expansion. Use a spoon dipped in milk to flatten cookies and make them shiny. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

24 days of cookies

Advent Cookie Calendar!!!

Did someone say chocolate fountain?

http://www.sephra.com/

Dose of Chock

Sometimes a litte dose of chocolate is all we need. Something easy to bite into with crumbles nicely with tea. This chocolate crisps do the trick. They aren't the type of cookie that melt in your mouth and leave you speechless. But those aren't always good for the figure. In fact you definitly need the white chocolate glaze to sweeten them up. Half the recipe made plenty of cookies. I shaped them into bones for Halloween.

Source
Ingredients
1 cup (250 mL) salted butter
¾ cup (175 mL) brown sugar
1¾ cup (425 mL) all-purpose flour
½ cup (125 mL) cocoa


Topping:
8 oz (250 g) chopped white chocolate, melted

Get Cooking!

1. Cream butter and sugar together until light, about 5 minutes. Sift flour with cocoa.
2. Beat into butter mixture. Divide dough into four square pieces. Wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
3. Roll out one piece of dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into 12 squares of about 2 in (5 cm) each. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Arrange cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. (Cookies will not spread too much, if at all, as they bake.)
4. Bake in a preheated 275°F (140°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven then, after 15 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack.
5. Melt chocolate in a 2-cup (500-mL) measuring cup. Dip cookies in the chocolate on the diagonal so that half are covered from one corner to another in white chocolate. Allow excess white chocolate to drain off and arrange cookies on rack. Refrigerate until set.

Thought its more like a coffee cake than a bread, its still quite good. Very moist and tasty.

Recipe via Eggless Baking.

Orange Blueberry Bread

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour 1 and 1/2 cups

Baking Soda 1/4 teaspoon

Baking Powder 1 and 1/4 teaspoons

Salt 1/2 teaspoon

Butter, (measured and melted) 5 tablespoons

Granulated Sugar 1 cup

Unsweetened Applesauce 1/4 cup (dry measuring cup)

Plain Yogurt (I used fat free) 1/4 cup (dry measuring cup)

Orange Juice (freshly squeezed) 4 tablespoons

Orange Zest 1 tablespoon

Milk (I used 2%) 1/2 cup

Blueberries (fresh or frozen) 1 cup

Pecans, chopped (or nuts of your choice/optional) 1/2 cup

Yield: One loaf.

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Coat well a 9×5 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray on the sides and bottom.
2. In a medium size bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; keep it aside.
3. In a small bowl whisk together the applesauce, yogurt, orange juice and zest.
4. In a large bowl cream together the melted butter and sugar for about 5 minutes using a hand held electric mixer. (Update: Measure the butter first and then melt it. The butter and sugar doesn’t cream very much. It looks more like coarse crumbs). To this add the above wet mixture and beat well for another 2-3 minutes. The mixture will look curdled but it’s okay.
5. Now to the above add the flour and milk alternatively and beat for a couple of seconds after each addition. Add the flour in three parts and milk twice. So you would start with flour and end with flour.
6. Fold in the blueberries and nuts. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw it.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake between 60-70 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Mine was done exactly at 60 minutes.
8. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let it cool for about an hour before you can remove the bread from the pan. I think I did not grease the bottom of the loaf pan well enough so I was able to remove the bread only after about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Cool it completely on the wire rack (preferably overnight) before cutting it into slices. I baked it at after 8 pm, so left it overnight and was able to get neat slices the next day morning.

Modernist Cuisine

 "Modernist Cuisine is a six-volume, 2,400-page set that is destined to reinvent cooking. The lavishly illustrated books use thousands of original images to make the science and technology clear and engaging."

Oh ... its also 500$

via kottke

Baking Day 3 - Wednesday August 4th - Lemon Blueberry Cookies

These are eggless and delish!!!

Might become a new favorite.
From the eggless baking site

Blueberry Drop Cookies

• 1 cup fresh, canned or frozen blueberries
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind/zest
• 4 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 cups sifted plain/all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5

Rinse the blueberries, (defrost first if frozen), and spread on paper towels to dry thoroughly. Cream the butter, sugar, and lemon peel. Add the sour cream. Beat well.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture alternately with milk to the creamed mixture, beating until smooth after each addition. Lightly fold in the blueberries.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Baking Day 2 - Tuesday August 3rd - Peach Crumble

From the mayo clinic recipes
Peach Crumble

Ingredients

8 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
Juice from 1 lemon
1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup whole-wheat (whole-meal) flour
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons trans-free margarine, cut into thin slices
1/4 cup quick cooking oats

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly coat a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray.

Arrange peach slices in the prepared pie plate. Sprinkle with lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour and brown sugar. With your fingers, crumble the margarine into the flour-sugar mixture. Add the oats and stir to mix evenly. Sprinkle the flour mixture on top of the peaches.

Bake until peaches are soft and the topping is browned, about 30 minutes. Cut into 8 even slices and serve warm.

NOTES: Our ripe Ontario peaches are too juicy for this recipe. The peaches needed some sugar mixed in, they also probably needed some corn starch. Also my top didn't really crisp. It was still pretty yummy though.

Baking Day 1 - Sunday August 1st - White Chocolate Berry Pie

Sunday I made one of my fruit pies. Since its a combo of other recipes, i'll post mine.
August might be baking month. ;-)

1 - prepared graham pie crust
1/2 cup - creamed cream cheese
2 tbsps - sour cream
1/3 cup - white chocolate chips (melted)
1 - 1 pint strawberries
2 tbps - corn starch (about)
1/4 cup - icing sugar
1/4 cup blueberries
1/4 cup raspberries

Instructions
-Toast the graham pie crust in the oven under a broiler
-Cream the cream cheese (whipped is already cream and a great option). Add the sour cream and melted chocolate. Mix together.
-Spread over the pie crust evenly, it should layer evenly at about 1/2"
-Place in the fridge. 
-Put most of the strawberries save for 5 or so in a pot with a little water and mash them. Cook for 20 minues until they are soft and smooth (boiling lightly). Mix the corn starch and icing sugar. Take the berry mixture off the store once it has boiled lightly for a few minutes. The mixture should start to thicken.
-This is the trickiest part, depending on how juicy the strawberries are more cornstarch might be needed. The strawberry mixture should be sticky, when you pull it up with a spoon it should not run but plop! lol...
-Leave it cool until its just warm. Spread all on the cream cheese layer in the pie except for 2 tbsps of it.
-Cut up a the remainder of the strawberries into bite size pieces. Wash and dry the raspberries and blueberries.
-Arrange the 3 fruit on the top of the strawberry filling, pressing it in just a bit.
-Take the 2 tbsps, the last of the strawberry mixture and add in a good teaspoon of icing sugar and some lemon juice to form a glaze. Spoon a few teaspoons worth of the glaze over the top of the pie.
-Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Goats eat oats, do you?

"A new world record for the biggest bowl of porridge has been set at the annual Cupar Highland Games in Fife.

The huge breakfast of 690 litres of porridge which was cooked up could feed 2,000 people and was more than double the existing record."
cont at BBC

The cookies

Snickerdoodle inspired delights!

Snickerdooddle inspired cupcakes. mini of course, i'm obsessed at the moment.
which are Vegan and ergo egg-less!

sans-frosting

avec frosting

Recipe via Grouprecipes

Ingredients

1 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Mix together soymilk and vinegar and set aside for 1-5 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and white sugar.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil.
5. Add remaining oil and the orange and vanilla extracts to the soured soymilk. Stir together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix together to form a smooth batter. Pour into the lined cupcake pan, filling each cup no more than 2/3 full.
6. Spoon a heaping 1/2 teaspoon full of the cinnamon mixture into each cupcake. Make a zigzag or spiral in the cupcake batter with a bamboo stick or toothpick.
7. Bake for 19-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool and frost with vanilla frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
9. Frosting Notes: I rarely measure when I make vanilla frosting. I just take 1/2 cup of softened Earth Balance and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and beat it with enough sifted powdered sugar to get the right consistency and taste. If it gets too thick I thin it with a little soy milk.

NOTE: I added maybe ... 1/8th cup flour to the batter, it was too liquidy before putting in greased cupcake tins.

Cookie of the Week - Snickerdoodle

I suddenly feel the need to bake!

"A snickerdoodle is a type of sugar cookie made with cream of tartar and rolled in cinnamon sugar. It is characterized by a cracked surface and can be crisp or soft depending on preference. In modern recipes, the leavening agent is usually baking powder.^{[citation needed]}
Some people mistakenly refer to snickerdoodles as "sugar cookies". The difference between the two comes from the use of cinnamon, which is balanced with cream of tartar to give the cookies their sweet, spicy flavor

will report on progress later!

Results

mini cupcake success!

the soldiers

on its way to my tummy

Gangsters paradise is filled with chicken and shrimp

Coolio, from the 90's music scene, just came out with a new cookbook. Apparently he had a cooking show too...

"You know him as Coolio, the artist behind such mid-'90s hits as "Fantastic Voyage" and "Gangsta's Paradise." But recently he's reinvented himself as the Ghetto Gourmet, with an online cooking show and now a new cookbook, "Cookin' With Coolio," full of recipes with names such as Chicken Lettuce Blunts and Cold Shrimpin'. We spoke with him about romance in the kitchen, cooking on a budget, and why he is like Emeril Lagasse. The conversation has been edited for a family newspaper."
for the boston.com interview with Coolio and continuation of the article, click here.

Cookies - Java Cutouts

Java Cutouts - Recipes - Food - Canadian Living

NOTE: I made them without the chocolate topping and they were delish!!! Great cookie with tea or coffee or even maybe hot cocoa. A bit heavy which is kind of good because you feel satisfied after 2. I also didn't make shapes. I just rolled the dough into a log, then chilled it, then sliced the cookies, nice and thin. mmmmm

Ingredients
2 tsp (10 mL) instant coffee granules
1 tbsp (15 mL) vanilla
1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
Pinch salt
1 cup (250 mL) butter
3/4 cup (175 mL) packed brown sugar
2-1/2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour
2 oz (60 g) white chocolate, melted
45 chocolateespressobeans

Preparation:

In small bowl, dissolve coffee in vanilla. Stir in cinnamon and salt.

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in coffee mixture. Stir flour into batter in 2 additions, blending with hands if necessary. Divide in half; press into discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 4 hours or until firm. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.) Let come to room temperature.

Line rimless baking sheets with parchment paper or grease; set aside.

Between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper, roll out discs, 1 at a time, to scant
1/4-inch (5 mm) thickness. Using 2-inch (5 cm) cutter, cut out shapes; place on prepared pans, about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.

Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Let cool on pans on racks for 2 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool
completely.

With small spoon, dab each with melted chocolate; press espresso bean on top. Let stand until chocolate is firm. (Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month.)