Gingersnaps

I think I can honestly say that my oven will be getting its holiday vacation for the next couple of days or so.

It seems like everyone builds up for Christmas each year and yet the day comes, and goes, and next thing you know, Christmas, the day we spend weeks getting ready for, is over in what feels like minutes. Sometimes, I wonder if Christmas should just be considered a month-long holiday. 'Cause it certainly felt like it this month. I'm still finding random balls and disks of forgotten cookie dough in my fridge and freezer... and underneath my fingernails... but that's irrelevant...

I hope you all had a great, wonderful Christmas full of good food and, of course, cookies. I know I sure did (cookies included!). I hope you all got pretty chef knives and lots of cookbooks under your tree... I know I'll be enjoying my new set of ramekins, my new cookbook, and my espresso maker. Oh yes. The espresso make has been put to good use already, I assure you -- it will not go unused ;). Now I just need to whip up some biscotti to go with it, and I'll really have no reason to get out of bed. Ever again.

Besides the being sick, Christmas allergies and the drastic amount of laundry covered in powdered sugar and flour touring over next to me, I'd say that this Christmas was a successful one... with leftovers to enjoy.

In all seriousness, I'll probably be back in the cookie making business in a few days. ;) Have to put those new tools to good use afterall :).



One of the most praised cookies that made it to my cookie tray this year had to be these gingersnaps... I gotta admit, they are the best i've ever had. I usually like my gingersnaps very crunchy, but these are wonderful when chewy and much, much better than the store-bought ones that taste like molasses bricks, in my honest opinion. And thankfully, they go either way you want them to... crunchy or chewy. But make sure you don't store the crunchy ones with the chewy ones... the moisture will rape whatever crunchiness your other batch of cookies will hold. No crunchy cookie is safe from it. Truth.

Now, if you don't want to go run off and bake these beauties right away... I completely understand... but definitely keep them in your recipe box to make. And just so you know, they taste just as fabulous after Christmas as they do on Christmas. In other words... you have no excuse not to make these. ;) They really are splendid with a particularly frothy cappucino or just a nice glass of cold milk. You might even find yourself actually getting out of bed to go for seconds.



Perfect Gingersnaps
(Thanks to 17andbaking for the killer recipe)

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
Pinch of salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg
Sugar for rolling (I like evaporated cane juice or raw sugar)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl, combine together the brown sugar, molasses, canola oil, and egg until smooth.

2. Mix the flour mixture into the brown mixture, stirring until dough comes together. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. Scoop up bits of dough by the heaping teaspoonful and roll into balls between your palms, about the size of a quarter. Roll the balls in sugar and place on the baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake 8 minutes – if you like crispy gingersnaps, try 9-10 minutes. Cookies will be very soft but will firm up. Leave on the baking sheet several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Store crunchy cookies at room temperature, uncovered. Store chewy/soft cookies in air-tight container. Cookies will stay good for quite some time.

Gingerbread bars with white chocolate icing

Sometimes, some thing just tastes so good, that you can't even compare what it tastes like with an actual taste. For example, say you're at a restaurant and you order the jerk seasoned shrimp with mango salsa and mashed sweet potato with fried plantains on the side... you taste it, and you get such an explosion of hot, spicy & sweet that sometimes all you can

say is: "Oh man. That tastes like the freakin' bahamas right there."

And somehow, everyone will nod their head and totally know exactly what you mean even though in reality it makes no sense whatsoever.

These bars... are kinda like that.

I want to say they taste like gingerbread bars that have been tinted with a nice white chocolate (and cream cheese) icing laced on top. I want to say they taste subtly spicy with a sweet tone. I want to say they taste like a thousand gingerbread men, only in cake form... but none of these seem to fit the description as well as my sister-in-laws words:

"It's like I just bit into Christmas."

Y'took the words right outta my mouth. Except not literally because that would be awkward.

Just look at these. They are so delicately weighed. Not too light or heavy. A perfect little snack cake that would do well with or without the icing (but because we like to take things to the next level and once is never enough, we'll just go ahead and ACCIDENTALLY cross over another healthy helping of lacy icing on these babies. Remember. Accidentally.) It's not rich at all and it

really does taste like you are biting into Christmas Day itself. It's like a total nostalgia rush to the fifth degree. Even if you've never had gingerbread before, you'll be swept away into Christmas.

Or just another piece.

Extra icing, please.

I was actually going to opt for Martha's AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS looking white chocolate gingerbread blondies BUT... 2 sticks of butter martha?! 2 whole sticks!?

...WELL, MARTHA, I DON'T HAVE TWO STICKS OF BUTTER TO USE. So you and your fancy pants recipe will just have to wait another week before they get their grips on my waistline.

So there.

(I'm sorry, I had to get that out. Forgive me.)

'Till then, I'm going to savor what has to be the best version of gingerbread I have possibly ever had. And I encourage you to do the same.

Gingerbread Bars with White Chocolate Icing

Stolen from Culinary in the Desert who adapted it from Bon Appetit

INGREDIENTS:

For gingerbread bars:

2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

For white chocolate icing:

1 oz white chocolate, melted and cooled

4 oz cream cheese, softened

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9 inch pan with foil, with the foil going over the length-wise edges of the pan, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, add flour. SCOOP OUT 2 TABLESPOONS OF FLOUR and place in separate bowl to reserve for topping.

3. Into the flour (not reserved flour), whisk in ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

4. In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating just to combine after each addition. Mix in vanilla and molasses. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in white chocolate chips if using.

5. Scoop batter into prepared pan and, with an offset spatula, smooth out top. Sprinkle the top with reserved flour, then sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar over that.

6. Place into oven and bake until bars are golden brown and a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached, about 20-24 minutes. Remove and place pan on wire wrack to cool completely before cutting.

7. While gingerbread is cooking, make the icing. take a clean medium-small bowl and blend together the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Blend in the melted white chocolate. Then blend in the vanilla. IF your icing is too thick, thin it out with a tablespoon of milk. If it's too think, add more powdered sugar.

7. When bars are cooled, lift the bars out of the pan with the foil that you lined over the edges of the pan. Cut into desired bars and, using a pastry bag (Or take a ziplock bag, put the icing in it and then cut off a little hole with scissors at the pointy tip), drizzle white chocolate icing over bars. Save leftover icing in fridge if desired.

Punitions with Rum Cream Cheese Icing

The chilly morning weather is rolling in and I am seriously finding it harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning. Seriously. You could be whippin' up a batch of cinnamony french toast and bacon and I'll still hesitate to get out from under the covers. It's just been one of those weekends where all you wanna do is snuggle inside your blanket, watch some awesome T.V. shows (*cough*THEFRINGE*cough*) and eat a lot of nice, warm, comforting, homey food.

Even though Christmas is coming, I really hardly feel like it is. It seems like the hype is so died down this year for everyone... But I'm still glad people are spreading the Christmas cheer anyway. That, and there is DEFINITELY no shortage of cookie making and consumption. No,

not at all.

Though I admit I was a total laze ball this weekend, I did manage to drag my butt out of bed and get some things done... And of course, those things came mostly in cookie form. Because it's Decemeber. And they can come in no other way but in cookie form.

I love these cookies because they are basic, simple, and still the bomb. Throw some snazzy cream cheesy icing on there that's been spiked with rum extract and you got yourself a class full of happy, hungry, cheery little kids all wanting to gobble these cute little snowmen up. And I don't blame them one bit!

Punitions, also known as "Punishment" cookies, are incredibly easy. You just mix flour, sugar, and butter together in the food processor, stick it in the fridge for a few hours, roll it out and cut it into traditional wedged circles or get all fancy-shmancy and use a snowman cut out. Your choice.

They're great on their own with a crumbly and snappy texture. But the icing really makes it even better. You really don't want to eat too many of these... they are truly for sweet tooths only. You know. The kind of people who can enjoy a few Hawaii'an sweet rolls with a good pat of butter on 'em.

Mmm. Hawaii'an sweet rolls...

Punitions (Punishment cookies)

(courtesy of smitten kitchen, adapted from Boulangerie Poilane, via Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan)

INGREDIENTS:

For cookies:

1 1/4 sticks salted butter, at room temperature

Slightly rounded 1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

For rum cream cheese icing:

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon rum extract

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

1 teaspoon water (optional, for thinning)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put the butter in the work bowl of a food processor* fitted with the metal blade and process, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the butter is smooth. Add the sugar and process and scrape until thoroughly blended into the butter. Add the egg and continue to process, scraping the bowl as needed, until the mixture is smooth and satiny. Add the flour all at once, then pulse 10 to 15 times, until the dough forms clumps and curds and looks like streusel.

2. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and gather it into a ball. Divide the ball in half, shape each half into a disk, and wrap the disks in plastic. If you have the time, chill the disks until they are firm, about 4 hours. If you’re in a hurry, you can roll the dough out immediately; it will be a little stickier, but fine. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)

3. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is between 1/8 and 1/4 inch (4 and 7 mm) thick. Using a 1 1/2-inch (4-cm) round cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can and place them on the lined sheets, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) space between them. (You can gather the scraps into a disk and chill them, then roll, cut, and bake them later.)

5. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are set but pale. (If some of the cookies are thinner than the others, the thin ones may brown around the edges. M. Poilâne would approve. He’d tell you the spots of color here and there show they are made by hand.) Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool to room temperature.

6. For icing, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together. Add extract and corn syrup. Beat until combined. If icing is too thick (it should have a drizzly consistency) add teaspoon of water or milk as desired. Ice cookies and leave for icing to harden.

Do ahead: The cookies can be kept in a tin at room temperature for about 5 days or wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 1 month.

Back there and again.

I'm sorry for the lack of updates. Really, I am. But this time, I have a good excuse. I promise.

Usually, when I don't update my blog, it's due to:

1) Being too busy doing other things (or my subtle way of saying I was too lazy).

2) I didn't take pictures of what I've been making

3) I didn't like the pictures of what I made

4) What I made got eaten before I could go to my room to get my camera.

In all truth though, the first one is the most common. I know. Not cool, Alex.

This time though, I have a good excuse. A really good one. Y'see, while you all were w

aiting for me to update with some more seasonal goodies, I was busy in New Orleans eating my pants size worth of these:

If you don't know what these are, then... Oh, God. I'm so, so sorry. Seriously. I fantasize about these. I fantasize about waking up to a warm plate full of these with a big cup of steamin' hot coffee every day. I fantasize about all that powdered sugar going everywhere everytime I even move or breathe wrong (quick personal note: never laugh when eating a Beignet. Ever. As it will result in a death-consuming cloud of powdered sugar smoke.)

I was kind of hesitant to try one. After all, Beignets are basically deep-fried dough. But they were so light and the edges -- Oh god, they were my favorite part. So crisp and chewy. Honestly, if I lived in New Orleans... Cafe' Du Monde would never go out of business. Truth.

But anywho.

While I could use the whole "I was in New Orleans eating Beignets! You have to believe me!" excuse as to why I haven't updated, I'll give you a real one, which is: ... I had no baking equipment. At all. Yeah, tell me about it. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure how security check out would deal with me bringing a deadly mixer on board of the plane -- and I don't think my luggage could carry a 20lbs bag of flour and sugar. So I had to leave my baking behind for a week or two. And I have to say this: I did miss it. But that's okay. We're back on track now and kicking off the ride with a cookie I think you'll find good enough to forgive me for.

These little oatmeal cookie delights are filled with a cool autumn combo of diced apples and butterscotch chips. When they come out of the oven, they can get pretty crispy -- but if you leave them out for awhile, they become incredibly moist and cakey. So if you like your oatmeal cookies crispy, you should definitely make and eat these the day they are made. If you like 'em cakey, then just make 'em, and let them sit out on the counter uncovered overnight. Or, better yet, store 'em in the refrigerator in a air-tight container. These taste really good served cold. But i'll let you be the judge of that.

The apples and butterscotch really shine here, with some help from a dash of cinnamon and some pumpkin pie spice. Not only that, but I replaced 1/4 cup of the butter in the original recipe with some applesauce, keeping these nice and moist and bringing out a more natural sweetness that helps the apple flavor a lot.

I think you'll like 'em. Hell, I know I did, and I'm not a big oatmeal cookie fan. These could probably do with some chopped walnuts thrown in, if you like your cookies a little on the nutty side. Pecans or almonds probably wouldn't contrast as well with the apples/butterscotch chips, though.

Happy eatin' foodies! And look for updates. I promise I won't run off on you for some donuts again.

Well. Maybe.

Butterscotch and Apple Oatmeal Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup AP and 1/2 cup whole wheat)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup finely chopped apples (about 1 big apple, 2 medium ones and 3-4 small ones)

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking or regular oats, uncooked

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 325F. Cream the butter; add the brown sugar and applesauce and beat until light, fluffy and there are no brown sugar chunks.

2. Beat in egg and vanilla.

3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat until well combined.

4. Gently stir in apples, oats, and butterscotch chips.

5. Drop dough by heaping teaspoon or tablespoon fulls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or just grease it with nonstick cooking spray). Bake at 325 for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies depending on size. Store in air-tight container in fridge or leave at room temperature uncovered.