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Food, Savory

Chipless Cookies

When it comes to food, I’m not always on the same page as everyone else. Take the basic chocolate chip cookie. I am the person who looks through the pile of cookies and tries to find the one with the least amount of chocolate. Yes, you can gasp at my sinful decision each time I reach for a sweet goodie. But I have to tell you that the best part of the cookie, for me anyway, is the carbs in those glorious treats. So why not make them without all the messy chocolate chips and save those morsels for something else, right?

So while I was relaxing the other night I thought I’d try it out. This is what I came up with…

Chipless Cookies

Gather:
1/2 cup shortening (Yes, I’m thinking I have an aversion to butter. Sorry Paula.)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a bowl, blend together the two sugars and shortening. Then add the eggs and continue to mix for one minute or until combined.

Gradually add in flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir until all combined.

With a spoon, scoop out one inch balls of dough, place onto baking sheet and press lightly down on each dough ball. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on a cooling rack and enjoy. Let me know what you guys think!

 

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Food, Savory

Winter Cookies

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Pretty Italian Cookies

Not sure if you’ve figured it out yet, but I’m Italian. So anise cookies are kind of this thing my family likes to make. I’m not a fan of licorice, so the cookies aren’t my first go-to cookie. However, I have no problem making them, especially since I get to decorate them.

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Gather the goods, just no need for the remote

 

You will need:
2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons anise oil

Icing:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and anise oil and continue mixing until combined. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder. Add dry mixture to wet in small batches until combined.

With a spoon, drop small one inch cookies onto baking sheet. Bake for about 12-15 minutes. Let cool on cooling rack.

While those are cooling, mix the icing ingredients until smooth. I added some red to make the icing colorful, then dipped them into the icing and put back onto the rack. Decorate with sprinkles or whatever you’d like. Enjoy!

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Food, Sweet

Chocolate Marshmallow Button Cookies

I can’t follow a recipe. Yup, I’m admitting it again. I tried, I really really tried to follow the recipe, but I couldn’t do it. In other news, the cookies came out really good despite me ignoring orders.

So remember that wonderful cookie book I got from my secret Santa at our work event? Well, I finally made cookies with it. The recipe called for 3/4 a cup of dark chocolate, but I didn’t have that, so that’s when things started going awry. I also didn’t have mini marshmallows, but instead had big ones. Also didn’t have butter….. shortening is totally the same thing, right?

So I made the cookies with my adjustments, and to tell you the truth, they came out pretty darn good, and my family liked them (or else they are being really kind about the whole me baking a lot of food thing.) I’ve posted my adjusted recipe below, try it and let me know what you think.

Chocolate Marshmallow Button Cookies

Ingredients:
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 up shortening (I used the sticks because you can cut your portion)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
6 large marshmallows, cut into eight or so pieces

Preheat oven to 320 F. While that’s going, melt white chocolate and milk chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 seconds until melted. Put back in at 15 second intervals until it’s smooth. Let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, mix the shortening and sugar with a mixer (or really strong helper with a spoon) until combined. Add eggs and stir, then add chocolate and stir until completely combined. Gradually add flour mixture, a little bit at a time until mixed.

Using spoons or an ice cream scoop, drop the dough onto the baking sheets (you can line it with parchment paper if you like before placing down the cookies). Press one or two (I prefer two) pieces of marshmallow on each cookie. The two marshmallows gives it the button look when they’re done.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove and let cool on rack. You can get about 30 out of this mix if you do it just right. Enjoy!

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Food, Sweet

White Winter Marshmallows

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Or at least winter with these white winter marshmallows. They’re just sweet candy goodness. Now, this might not be the best Pinterest win, but it’s certainly a start and I’m working on the final product. I need a bit more finesse before these make the cover of any magazine.

These ended up being for a present. Paired a cute mug and peppermint hot cocoa, that’s pretty cute right? Believe me, it’s all in the packaging. I wouldn’t send these winter marshmallows over without making them look cute. The plate isn’t the best option for displaying, but it was good enough to at least show you all my beginner progress.

There’s really nothing better than snuggling up to a warm cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows when it’s cold out. Okay, maybe snuggling up with a mug that’s been topped off with some Bailey’s.

How to Get Your Own White Winter Marshmallows

This was super easy. I took a cup of white chocolate chips and put them in a bowl with a teaspoon of water. Then into the microwave they went for 30 second intervals (stirring between each 30 seconds), until the chocolate was nice and smooth. You can also use a double boiler, but I was being lazy.

Once melted, dip marshmallows one at a time into the warmed white chocolate until you’ve halfway covered the marshmallow. While the chocolate is still sticky, add sprinkles or pearl candies to the marshmallow by rolling it into a bowl of your topping. Then place the candied marshmallows on some wax paper. Into the fridge overnight and you’ve got yourself some lovely candied marshmallows!

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