Today I am guest posting at The Weekend Gourmet. I love Wendy’s site and have met her through #SundaySupper, which if you follow me you know all about. Wendy is from Texas and you will see some of that wonderful Southern flair and hospitality come out in her recipes. For today I am sharing with you and her readers this lovely recipe for Apple Oatmeal Cookies.
This week for #SundaySupper we were to come up with a New Cooking Adventure. Well I thought I would delve into the world of macaroons but to do it slowly. Why am I afraid of this little french cookie. I know!! I am not a baker, I am not good at little finicky things. I love to cook and create but don’t like absolute precision that a lot of baking recipes take. I am fairly comfortable with a pastry bag but in doing just some basic things. So I was thumbing through my QOOQ tablet that I have (a tablet that is pre loaded with tons of recipes) and one caught my eye. EASY Chocolate Macaroons or they are also called Maroni. Well, I thought that was for me, so off I went to create these little cookies. In the picture that the recipe came with the macaroons didn’t have the little “legs” that I associate with french macaroons but I quickly got over that as these ones are an “easy” version and that is where I wanted to start.
Well I made them and I felt challenged that was for sure, not only was it hard to pipe the batter onto the Silpats because it was runny and you had to move quickly but the recipe wasn’t complete. It asked to add sugar at the stage when you are whipping the egg whites but omitted the amount. The recipe just said sugar in the ingredients. I PANICKED, now what to do. I took a big breath and decided on half a cup of sugar. I didn’t need much sweetness as the recipe had lots of powdered sugar in it. It worked!! My cookies look exactly like the picture in the recipe and were delicious!! I may now be brave enough to try the real thing next time. Stay tuned I still want to challenge myself more!!!
Macaroons for New Cooking Adventures #SundaySupper
Author: Tara Noland
Recipe type: Cookies
Cuisine: French
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
An easy macaroon.
Ingredients
3 cups almond powder
⅔ cup cocoa powder
14 egg whites
2⅔ cups powdered sugar
½ cup white sugar
Ganache
¾ lb. dark chocolate, chopped
1¼ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup sugar
7 Tbsp. butter, cut into 1 Tbsp. chunks
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375F. Cover two cookie sheets with Silpats or parchment papper. Place a sifter over a large bowl and sift almond powder and powdered sugar over the bowl. Sift cocoa powder next. Lightly whisk all ingredients together.
Pour the egg whites into the bowl of a standup mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Start to whisk on low speed increasing the speed. Slowly add the white sugar in and continue beating until the egg whites are frothy but still slightly liquid.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and start to make uniform approx. 2″ circles on the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 14-16 min. or until set. Let cool 5 min. on the cookie sheet and then remove onto parchment paper on the counter top to completely cool.
Ganache
Pour the heavy cream and sugar into a medium saucepan, stir. Bring almost to the boil. Place chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot cream over. Stir to melt the chocolate and combine. Add the butter and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min.
When the cookies have cooled. Place the ganache in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. On the under side of the cookie pipe on the ganache and top with another cookie. Stack the macaroons to serve.
Today’s post is by Peter from Feed Your Soul. Peter and I met a long time ago (at least in my blogging world) at Tasty Kitchen. We became fast friends trying to help each other out along the road of ups and down on the massive learning curve of blogging. Peter and I communicate a lot and I have very much enjoyed his friendship. Today I am enjoying his cookies!! Peter has a great blog and you can follow along with him also on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. And now I give you Peter!!
This is one of those recipes that is famous within the family. No one can make these as good as my sister-in-law Leslie. So why try?
I have grown up eating a dessert almost every day of my life. My Mom was a wonderful baker and my wife is an awesome baker. I am a lucky guy. Now I have a little battle with age and a waistline that I have to watch – bummer! All that means is that I don’t have a dessert every day anymore. A small concession.
Giving a little preview of the result, the responses were pretty darn favorable. I used a mixer to make these. I was told, after the fact, that Leslie mixes these by hand. You have to be strong to do that. Bottom line is if you have a great recipe, the result is destined to be good.
Recipe
Leslie’s Chocolate Cookies:
Ingredients:
· 2 sticks of butter, room temperature
· 1 cup packed light brown sugar
· 1 cup white sugar
· 3 large eggs
· 2 tsp vanilla
· 1 tsp kosher salt
· 3 cups flour
· 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
· 1 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
· 3 small heath bars cut in 1/3′s (I stuffed some of the cookies with these bars)
Directions:
First, cream the butter and sugar in your mixer. Next, add the
eggs one at a time, the vanilla and salt. Do not over mix. Then, add the flour one cup at a time. With the last cup of flour, add the baking soda. Finish, by adding the chips.
Take a small ice cream scoop and place the cookie dough on a baking tray sprayed with vegetable flour oil spray. Stuff the Heath bars in to the middle of the cookies. Push all the way down in to the bottom of the cookie. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Bake for 8 – 10 minutes at 350 degrees. The cookies are done when the edges brown and the cookie is just turning brown.
Let cool for 10 – 15 minutes after the cookies come out of the oven, then move to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
How lucky were we as a group to get this wonderful cookie press to try out. For our latest giveaway each of the five bloggers were given a cookie press to make cookies and blog. We also have one in our giveaway for a lucky winner. With the cookie press comes twelve discs for all seasons but we also received another 6 spring discs to try.
I have been very excited to try this as I don’t own a cookie press and have always wanted one. I have to say this was so easy to use. Just follow the instructions carefully and it goes without a hitch. Use an ungreased room temperature cookie sheet and the dough sticks right to it, no need for a knife!! In no time flat you have tray of cookies ready for the oven. I LOVED using this, so much fun, can’t wait to do another batch with Amber!! Good bye cookie cutters and hello cookie press!!!
I used the recipe that was included and it is so good. Run and I mean run to the store to get one of these. You will be thrilled!!
Here are my Valentine’s Day cookies for you all. Happy Valentine’s Day!!
COME ON OVER TO OUR GIVEAWAY TO ENTER TO WIN ONE OF THESE WONDERFUL OXO COOKIE PRESSES!!!
Valentine’s Chocolate Butter Cookies made with the OXO Cookie Press
Author: OXO
Recipe type: Cookie
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12 dozen cookies
A wonderful chocolate butter cookie!!
Ingredients
1½ cups unsalted better, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs one at a time, continuously beating.
Gradually add flour and cocoa powder, beating until well incorporated.
Place the dough in cookie press with desired disk. Press dough out onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10 min. Rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time.
These cookies are a huge hit with kids. I like that they are so low in fat and they are nut free. Any easy cookie to take to school that the kids will scream for more. I like to make them in small little mounds, so this recipe then makes a lot. They look like little puffed clouds. You have to have you oven on for a long time to make meringue so you might as well make it worth it.
Try these cookies with your family, they will become a new household favorite! Happy Holidays!
A delicious little cookie that is not only elegant but they kids love them!!
Ingredients
6 large egg whites
1¼ cups super fine sugar
2 cups mini semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 175F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats and set aside.
In the bowl of a standup mixer with a whisk attachment beat egg whites until soft peaks form.. Add a few Tbsp. of the sugar in and whisk on low speed.
Increase speed and gradually add the sugar in one spoonful at a time. Continue until the egg whites have a glossy finish and hold stiff peaks. Remove bowl from the mixer and fold in the chocolate chips.
Using a very large pastry bag or in two batches with a plain tip, fill the bag with the meringue. Pipe small mounds about 1½” onto the prepared baking sheets about 1″ apart.
Bake meringues until completely dried out, be careful not to brown them. You may want to rotate the baking pans to prevent this. Bake for 2½-3 hours.
Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. Store in an air tight container for up to 1 week.
When Isabel asked for a guest post for her beautiful blog I was happy to help out. I couldn’t decide what cookie to make for her so I just started baking. I have made these little thumbprints before and they are so good. When I was making them I thought I would check and see who had originally made these and low and behold it is Emeril. Well if you know Isabel you know she loves Emeril so it was a no brainer to share this recipe with her on her site Family Foodie.
I have met Isabel through her wonderful #SundaySupper and so look forward to join in every week I can. She is a kind, caring and patient person to provide you with this mission week after week. A true statement of who she is and what she cares about.
I originally got this recipe from a friend of mine as she told me they were so good. I love little thumbprints but the lemon and raspberry together was so appealing to me. I have now made them for a few years and totally love them. I hope you make them too and enjoy them as much as we do.
I used to make these as a kid and I called them “molten lava cookies”. They are cool to watch bake in the oven as they transform from a round ball to a flattened cookie with great cracks and crevices. Not only do they look good but they taste divine with their fudgy brownie like interior. I have not made these for so many years and so happy I did again this year.
These cookies make such a pretty show to any cookie platter or box. They are easy to make too!!
Mix oil, chocolate and sugar together in a bowl of a standup mixer with a paddle attachment. Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add vanilla. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together and add to the oil mixture in two additions. Chill for 4 hours or overnight.
Heat oven to 350F. Taking a teaspoon of the dough roll it into a ball and then roll into the icing sugar. Place 2″ apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 min. Do not over bake.
A couple things about the cookie that I am sharing with you today. Number one I have baked from Betty Crocker’s cookbooks forever and love the cookie recipes that they have. Old fashioned all time favorites. I have found this cookbook through a friend of mine Nan. It is called Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book. Cute title!!
Secondly I love a cookie full of spice and flavor and this one delivers. This cookie is the best from 1880-1890′s, rich with spices from the Indies. Wow, they have longevity!! They originated from Cape Cod and were sent to sea on many boats in the time frame and are still favorites to this day!!
I keep my raisins in the freezer and they may get a bit dried out but I plump them back up with hot water. This time I added some rum to the mix and let them soak for about 1/2 hour. The longer you soak them the more rum flavor you will get. Try baking some of these up this year, they will become one of your favorites too!
Take a break from decorating, sit back with a coffee and enjoy these little satisfying cookies.
Soak raisins in the hot water and rum for at least ½ hour stirring occasionally. Drain.
In a stand up mixer with a paddle attachment cream shortening and sugar together. Add eggs. Stir in coffee. Stir the flour, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon together and incorporate it into the shortening mixture. Remove the bowl from the stand up mixer and fold in the nuts and raisins.
Chill dough for 1 hour at least.
Heat oven to 400F. Drop tsp. of dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and place 2″ apart. Bake for 8-10 min. or until golden brown. Cool on cookie racks.
I am honored and thrilled to have been featured on Yummly for National Cookie Day. Check out what I have to say here and then go to the gingersnap recipe over at Yummly, you will love this one!!
Gingersnaps are a great cookie for anytime of the year but I practically like them at Christmas. That crunchy snap of a cookie filled full of wonderful spices make you think of Christmas. The whole family will love this cookie. Kids especially are drawn to this cookie with its sugary outside.
When I make these my husband jokes that they look so perfect he would swear I bought them but I didn’t!! It is an easy recipe that I know you will all love to make again and again. Have them when you are coming out of the cold with a steaming hot chocolate or coffee. Sit back, relax and enjoy the flavors of the season.
I was looking for something for Amber’s lunchbox. Something different that I could pop in the freezer in little bags and have ready to grab in the morning to put in her lunch box. I came up with the idea of a granola bar for her, so the search was on for a recipe. I did not have to look far as I first went to a recipe book that I helped put together when I was nursing many years ago. In there was a great recipe for granola bars by Shelley McDonald. With a few tweaks, omissions and additions, here is what I came up with. They are absolutely fabulous and only today will two of them make it into her lunch box as the entire recipe has been devoured by all. I will have to make this again as they are so very good and so very easy!! They are a treat as they are not light in fat or sugar but do have health benefits as I added hemp for a nutty flavor and omitted the nuts so they are safe at school. I added two berries and omitted the raisins from the original recipe.
They are gluten free too if you buy the right oatmeal that hasn’t been cross contaminated with flour. A delicious snack for any time of the day and they stay fresh in a sealed container for many days.
Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 15×10″ pan with foil and grease foil. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Press evenly into pan. Bake for 25-30 min. or until lightly browned. Cool and then remove from pan. Peel off foil and cut into bars. Store at room temperature in a sealed container.
