REPOST

I've been seeing cookie exchanges being mentioned a lot lately. I've been hosting them on and off twenty years now and so I definitely have a set of rules that I think work out really well.  Most of the time I've done these at my workplace where you can have as many as 20 people participating. It can get a bit unruly. Sure, there are plenty of ways to host, but this is what works for me.


1) Your contribution must be homemade, made from scratch. Shortcutting it with brownie mixes or slice and bake cookies just won't cut it in my world.

2) Festive cookies only. Which really means... no chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter, or rice krispie treats allowed. I'm not interested in a cookie that I can get any time of the year at any bake sale or coffee counter. It should be something you only make once or twice a year that is associated with the holidays or special occasions.


I divide people into teams of eight people. That means that each person must make a total of four dozen cookies. You can vary the team sizes, but you want to keep it manageable for the participants. You don't want to ask them to have to bake eight dozen cookies - they wouldn't want to do it!

They make individual gift plates or bags with six cookies in each. They can provide the recipe if they wish, but it is not required. Some people do have their special, family recipes, so I don't push it. I've also asked people who want to to submit their recipes to me a week in advance by email. That way I can put together a little cookie book to give everyone the day of the exchange.

On the day of the exchange, each team swaps plates/bags so that you go home with eight different kinds of cookies. Now this does mean that you have one that is your own submission. Most of the time we take our own plates and donate them for eating there, on the spot. That way people can sample cookies from other teams.

Other Methods

There are other methods of doing cookie exchanges. For instance, everyone brings their plate of cookies and you set them out buffet-like. Each person goes down the line and takes one or two of each cookie. The reason I don't like this style is that people often want to go home with their cookies to share with their families. If there is only one of Sara's Kris Kringle balls, then my spouse/child won't get to try it or there could be fights among siblings.

Cookie exchanges are a lot of fun and the rules can be altered to fit your agenda. With holidays and cookies paired together, you can't help but be in a festive mood.

Potato Chip Cookies

Daring Bakers: Coconut Cream Panna Cotta


  

1. Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigerator for a few minutes before you start making the Panna Cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.
2. Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage).
3. Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn't boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.
5. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Serve from ramekins or turn out on plates, To turn out, run a knife around the edge of the panna cotta. Place a hot rag around the ramekin for a few seconds and then flip the ramekin onto a plate to release the panna cotta. Add garnishes and serve.

Back in 1994, Mary Tyndall won the Pillsbury Bakeoff with her recipe for Fudgy Bonbons. Since then, they have become one of the most popular of all the Bakeoff recipes. They are easy and good, if not all that good for you. I pull these out for my holiday cookies every once in a while. Because I had ignored cookie baking to the last few days before Christmas, I figured I needed to focus on easier cookies. This being one.

The ones above were rolled in powdered sugar. I was surprised when I couldn't find almond bark in the store last night to decorate with swirls like I wanted.


Pillsbury Fudgy Bonbons

2 c semisweet chocolate chips

¼ c butter or margarine

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

2 c all-purpose flour

½ c finely chopped nuts, if desired

1 t vanilla extract

60 milk chocolate candy drops or pieces, unwrapped (Kisses, Hugs, Rolos)

2 oz white baking chocolate bar or white candy coating (white almond bark)

1 t shortening or oil

Heat oven to 350°F. In medium saucepan, combine chocolate chips and butter; cook and stir over very low heat until chips are melted and smooth. Add sweetened condensed milk; mix well.

In medium bowl, combine flour, nuts, chocolate mixture and vanilla; mix well. Shape 1 tablespoon dough (use measuring spoon) around each milk chocolate, covering completely. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350°F. for 6 to 8 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cookies will be soft and appear shiny but will become firm as they cool. Remove from cookie sheets; cool.

In small saucepan, combine white baking bar and shortening; cook and stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Drizzle over cookies. Store in tightly covered container.

HIGH ALTITUDE - Above 3,500 feet: Increase flour to 2 1/4 cups. Bake as directed above.

Nutrition Per Serving (1 cookie): Calories 110; Protein 2g; Carbohydrate 14g; Fat 5g; Sodium 20mg

GF Note: For those unfamiliar with my blog, I do not have any dietary reason that I need to eat gluten-free. I choose to bake gluten-free within my home because I have an interest in all the other types of grains and flours that have been used by cultures for centuries. Why is America so wheat focused? I figure I can get gluten filled products everywhere else outside my home. 


The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.


I made these gluten-free as I continue to try to bake that way more. I was a little worried that the cookies might come out too crumbly to stand up to the decorating, but there was no problem.

This was my first time really decorating to this extent with royal icing. I think my only problem was that I didn't get it thin enough to 'flood' properly to get a nice smooth finish - they appear a little lumpy. But overall I was pleased with the results. I'm not an icing fan, so after I got the cookies above decorated I did the rest with much less icing, with the cookie showing through a lot more.

Basic Sugar Cookies: (note that italicized comments are from Mandy)



½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour or Gluten-free blend
3/4 t xanthan gum (only needed for GF version)
1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
• Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
• Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during
baking, losing their shape.
• Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
• Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoid
flour flying everywhere.
• Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
• Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)
• Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
• Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an
hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and
then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
• Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
• Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.
• Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.
• Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
• Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
• Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
• Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in
some cookies being baked before others are done.
• Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
• Leave to cool on cooling racks.
• Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
• Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated
cookies can last up to a month.

Royal Icing:
2½ - 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
2 Large Egg Whites
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Directions
• Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
• Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and
grease free.
• Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
• Tip: I’ve listed 2 amounts of icing sugar, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.
• Beat on low until combined and smooth.
• Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.
• Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

OK. I know it's a little on the late side for new year resolutions. But it's only February, so it's close enough. My resolution? To bake gluten-free within my home.

The more I learn about gluten-free foods the more my curiosity has been tickled. Gluten, like corn byproducts, salt, and sugar, is found in all sorts of foods if you look at food labels. Turns out it is even found in soy sauce! You logically think soy sauce would be gluten-free, but apparently it's not.

Then I'm learning that when it comes to dietary restrictions, gluten-free is the probably the easiest to work around. (Now before those with celiac disease get all defensive, I KNOW that there are so many other issues like eating out at restaurants, etc. that you have to deal with. But I'm talking purely in terms of finding cooking alternatives.) There are so many alternatives in terms of flours and pastas, etc. that you can still pretty much make anything with simple substitutions.

That's why I figure, why not go gluten-free at home? Sure, I don't need to as I have no allergies at all. But if there's an abundance of gluten-full food out there in the world, I can eat that when I leave my home. I can get my gluten and wheat products when I order a pizza or chomp on bread at a restaurant. I can enjoy brownies, cookies, and cakes baked the normal way, with wheat flour, everywhere else. I'll just not bake with it at home and in that way open a whole new world of experimenting at home. It will open a new door to adventures in baking.

To start out I decided to find the gluten-free store I had heard was located on J Street. On a furlough Friday I took off to find the Gluten-Free Specialty store at 2612 J Street. I also wanted to meet Sacramento food blogger Debbie of Gluten Free Adventures, who also works there. Turns out the owner, Melanie, also has a blog for the store at Gluten Free Specialty.

The store is small but Debbie says that they have plans to expand to at least twice the size. They have been in business for two years and I could tell that they were doing quite well. The shelves were certainly packed with all sorts of food items. Although everything in the store is gluten-free, they also carry foods in regards to other food allergies such as soy, lactose, yeast, etc.

We talked a little about my baking decision and how to know when to use what flour. Debbie explained that you needed to always have a mixture of at least three or four flour substitutes (like potato starch, rice flour, and tapioca flour together). There was a shelving unit filled with all the flour alternatives sold individually. But you have to be willing to buy all the different types and then mix them up yourself.


Debbi also pointed out many prepackaged flour mixes if you want to avoid making your own mixtures. One of her favorites was the Gluten Free Mama brand with the almond flour. I'm a fan of almond meal/flour and so I bought a small bag of that. She explained that this brand didn't include the xanthan gum but I had already purchased that a few days ago at the Coop.

Xanthan gum is also used in gluten-free baking. Since the gluten found in wheat must be omitted, xanthan gum is used to give the dough or batter a "stickiness" that would otherwise be achieved with the gluten.

Debbie explained that baking with the different flour substitutes really is a bit of experimentation and finding out what you like. Each substitute has different properties and so it will influence the final products taste, texture, and appearance. Because you don't have gluten to provide the binding 'glue' that some baked goods need, you have to expect these differences.

Off I went home with my bag of flour and thoughts of my next baking experiments. I knew I wanted to tackle lemon bars next. I have my yearly abundance of lemons thanks to my giant tree. I also knew that lemon bar crust is supposed to be a flaky shortbread and so it probably would not suffer from an alternate flour. It was also Valentine's Day weekend and the ex-hubby loves lemons. I figured lemon bars were an easy and nice little V Day gift in exchange for his buying dinner. The lemon bars came out great. Just as I thought, the crust had a nice crumbly texture but held up enough to keep the bar form.


I figured the next big test was chocolate chip cookies. I opted to use the NY Times recipe that I made a few months ago and just sub the flour. In that recipe, time was important to age and produce the complex flavors. So I made the dough and then stuck it in the fridge to age.

I baked them up today and you would never know the difference taste-wise. The texture, though, suffered a little in comparison when I had made them with wheat flour. These really spread out flat on the pan and crumbled easily.

I'll continue my gluten-free baking and learning more about the different substitutions. I'm excited about this new baking adventure and will certainly keep sharing via the blog.

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. of Baking Without Fear. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Aren't food trends interesting? Remember when yogurt shops were big in the early 90's? Then they all died out. Now they are back in vogue and sprouting up everywhere. The other thing that sprouted but I think is now on the decline is cupcake shops. What's the next 'big thing'? Some would argue that is the macaron.

Macarons are just becoming known and familiar in the United States. They are small pastry cookies made of a sandwich of almond meringue sides with a pastry cream, ganache, or other filling in the middle. They are light, sweet, and decadent. Usually they are small which can probably be attributed to the French preferring to show restraint on their portions. But, because they can run very sweet, it can also be likened to a chocolate truffle - to be savored and enjoyed.

I began my DB Challenge by doing some local research. In Sacramento there are two places that are known for selling macarons. One is Le Petit Paris cafe on 19th Street. They sell about about eight flavors of macarons that they receive from a baker in San Francisco. In the pictures theirs are the smaller macarons. From there I sampled the lavendar/apricot and pistachio macarons.




The larger macarons are made locally at Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates. I sampled the almond and passion fruit macarons there. I was able to ask Ginger for some tips about making them. She said to make sure to leave my egg whites out on the counter overnight and she suggested taking my almond flour/powdered sugar mixture and letting it dry in my oven overnight as well. One of the key things about macarons is to get out as much moisture as possible, so drying out the dry ingredients even more helps. Some even leave the egg whites out for a couple of days so that they lose some moisture as well. Out of the four macarons I sampled I liked the passion fruit flavored one the best.

Before we get to my finished product I wanted to point out what 'feet' are on a macaron. Macarons have feet and why it is called that I have no idea. Anyway, the feet is the little bit of separation or lip you see on the edge of each macaron - the side next to the filling. Here are a couple more illustrations of other people's because, unfortunately, mine did not have feet!



So now to my experience. My first batch flopped! This especially sucks because almond flour is not cheap and hard to find. The Co-op has it for $10.59 a bag! It takes half a bag for the recipe below. Some of the problems with batch one was that when I piped them out, they were too runny and spread out and melted together. The few that were successful in keeping shape and baking, stuck to the parchment paper so that when I peeled them off, all the innards were left on the paper. This after I had done all the tips that Ginger had given of leaving out all the ingredients and drying them out.


That had been on Sunday and now it was the work week. My intent was to leave the egg whites out a couple of days and bake the next attempt mid-week. But Monday was Columbus Day and for the locals who know, there was the big controversy over whether we State workers should show up for work or boycott. I went to work only to find that all my bosses didn't! So with that, I worked half day and went home to bake. This time I had not dried out the dry ingredients but decided to just go for it anyway. Above is the piped batter before I put it in the oven.


The second batch went much better but I was still worried as I tried to peel off the paper. It looked like I would have the same problem again, so I did one of the suggested fixes. I put the sheets back in the oven for the macarons to dry out even further. And this time I didn't put them on any sheet because I wanted the underneath of the paper to get as much dry air as possible. This worked out well.


The filling is chocolate buttercream left over from the Sans Rival I had made over the weekend. It worked great with the macarons.

I enjoyed the finished product a lot and will make macarons again. In the future I look forward to trying different flavor combinations. I kept it simple this time since I had that left over buttercream. Hopefully next time I will get feet!


Macarons

Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 2-3 dozen.

I've been interested in the science of cooking ever since I started watching Good Eats on the Food Network and reading Cooks Illustrated magazine. I've also had a long standing fascination in finding the perfect chocolate cookie for MY tastes (understanding that everyone has their own preferences).

Alton Brown has an excellent chocolate chip cookie episode of Good Eats where he makes Puffy, Thin, and Chewy versions of the cookie by altering the flour, eggs, and shortening in the cookies. He explains why the gluten amount in the flour or the type of shortening will effect the texture of the cookie. This is also discussed in the great reference cookbooks CookWise and BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher.

I was intrigued about a month ago when my friend Becky mentioned a certain chocolate chip cookie recipe from the New York Times on her Facebook posting. It had a link to a rather interesting article.

The basic idea in the article is that time allows the dough to 'age' for better flavor and texture. The dough is allowed to dry as the moisture from the eggs is slowly absorbed by the dry ingredients. When first mixed the dough is very light and soft. Below you see the dough after 36 hours, kind of dry and crumbly, but it can still be pressed into balls.


In the article the testers took a batch of cookie dough and took samplings from it at 12, 24, and 36 hours. They say the dough can be chilled for up to 72 hours. Here is the result they shared:

At 12 hours, the dough had become drier and the baked cookies had a pleasant, if not slightly pale, complexion. The 24-hour mark is where things started getting interesting. The cookies browned more evenly and looked like handsomer, more tanned older brothers of the younger batch. The biggest difference, though, was flavor. The second batch was richer, with more bass notes of caramel and hints of toffee.

Going the full distance seemed to have the greatest impact. At 36 hours, the dough was significantly drier than the 12-hour batch; it crumbled a bit when poked but held together well when shaped. These cookies baked up the most evenly and were a deeper shade of brown than their predecessors. Surprisingly, they had an even richer, more sophisticated taste, with stronger toffee hints and a definite brown sugar presence. At an informal tasting, made up of a panel of self-described chipper fanatics, these mature cookies won, hands down.

I made my dough on Monday night and baked the first samplings at 36 hours and figured I'd wait the 72 hours to finish them off. I will definitely agree wholeheartedly with the insights expressed above for the 36 hour cookies. There was an immediate, noticeable flavor difference with these cookies - the strong hints of toffee and caramel.

Another observation in the article is that size matters. In this case, the bigger the cookie, the better the variation in texture. They suggest large cookies so that you have a nice crunchy edge that give way to a soft, slightly chewy center. Spot on again!

My cookies used regular chocolate chips rather than the chocolate disc/coins mentioned in the article. I couldn't go to that extra expense, although I do agree that the better the chocolate, the better the cookie. Who could argue with that?


The last detail was the sprinkling of salt on the tops of the cookies. I must admit that I forgot this detail on the first batch. On the second batch I ground fresh sea salt across the top. It does add an extra zing to the cookie.

Overall assessment? Great recipe and observations. There really is a significant flavor difference with the aging of the dough. So then it boils down to things like... Do you have the willpower to let your dough sit for two days before you bake it? How well do the cookies keep? I think this recipe does have a keeper status in my recipe file. But I also think that it will depend on the mood and patience and the reason I'm baking cookies that day to determine whether I'll be making this version or my other favorite, the Monster Cookie recipe.

Anyway, the recipe for these fabulous cookies, if you can wait the 36 hours, is located here.

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milano Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

We were given the option to do one or both cookies. Considering that I don't care for marshmallows, the summer temps reaching in the 100's and a tight wallet due to Arnold's furloughs, I opted for one - the Milanos.

They were very easy to do. I left out the citrus extracts mentioned in the recipe and just used a bit of almond extract in the chocolate middles. I also wanted more chocolate, so that's why I dipped the ends. Then I took some leftover almond meal to dust them.

I can see doing this recipe during the holidays. It was easy, cheap, and tasty. A definite keeper.


Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

I have a new favorite cookie. Back in December one of the gals brought this cookie and recipe to our cookie exchange. What I love about it is that it stays chewy for a few days. I hate cookies that are great warm, but then turn into bricks the next day. Besides that, it has the best combination of oats, chocolate chips, and peanut butter.

I've also had to play with this recipe and it still works. You'll see that it calls for 4.5 cups of oatmeal. Twice now I have started the recipe only to get to the end and realize that I don't have enough oatmeal. So I've had to add flour to finish it off properly.

An important note is that it says "do not overbake". In fact, you want to pull them out just a tad underdone than you normally would. Then, let them cool completely before transferring them to a rack or lifting them. They are too soft when hot and will fall apart otherwise.

Monster Cookies

3 eggs
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candies
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins, optional
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.
In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.


Peanut Butter

Poor Dean. He gets all excited to show me something and then when I eat it I'm unimpressed and I deflate his sails. I need to work on that. When he took me to his home town in Michigan a few years ago he was excited for me to have a Coney Dog at a local chain and it turned out to be a chili dog - and I don't do chili dogs. Then we went across to Canada to have a "puffio", which seemed just to be a deep fried calzone. Although, in that case, THE restaurant was closed and so we had to settle for a competitor's and it might just not have been as good as the real thing.

So Dean wanted to make his grandma's Christmas cookies, which he called butter balls. He excitedly called up his mom and got the recipe. I looked at it and said, "oh, Mexican wedding cookies". NNNOOOOOO!!! I told him and showed him on the internet Mexican wedding cookies and Russian teacakes, which are basically the same thing. I finally told him that his grandma's recipe was different in that she included honey.

So here is the recipe for grandma's butter balls.



2 c flour
2 c chopped walnuts or pecans
1 c butter
2 t vanilla
1/4 c honey
1/2 t salt
powdered sugar

Cream the butter. Add honey, salt, vanilla, and flour. Mix thoroughly. Add in nuts and fully incorporate.

Scoop small amounts of dough with a melon baller and roll in your hands to form balls. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 mins.

Remove from oven and roll balls in powdered sugar once while hot and then again when cooled. (I used a sugar shaker to shake for the second coating.)

Makes about four dozen.

At the end of the month you will find out our May Daring Bakers Challenge. It was costly and one of the 'mistakes' I made was buying white chocolate chips which I later learned would not work. So what to do with bags of white chips? Make chocolate chocolate chip cookies.

So I looked in Dorie's book and found her Chocolate Chunker cookies. Another great recipe with my only complaint being - it only made 24 cookies! LOL. But they are very chocolatey and rich. You take them out of the oven when they are just cooked so that the centers are nice and gooey. Her recipe calls for adding raisins, but I don't like raisins so I left them out.

5/11/08
I am pretty picky about cookies. I like them fresh and rarely find a cookie that keeps well over several days. These cookies are still munchable a few days later! Love em!!!