Sugar Cookies - The Cookie Cutter Kind

 

It is honestly not the holidays in my house unless there are sugar cookies. Usually, I attempt to make the perfect light, thin, and crisp sugar cookies but those are nowhere near picture worthy. Instead I used the same dough and rolled them out to drop cookies and this is what resulted. Also, my family is torn between soft and chewy and thin and crispy sugar cookies. This year, I satisfied both parties! Which side do I prefer? Thin and crispy of course.

I'm still working on finding the perfect thin and crispy recipe that is easy to roll out and use cookies cutter with. I'm guessing I have to find a recipe that uses more flour so I'll let you know when I find it. These cookies are great for decorating but sometimes I like them just they way they are, plain.

I have used a recipe from Sunsets cookbook for years but in order to achieve the thin and crispy cookie, I had to modify the recipe to make the cookies airy and lighter. I ended up replacing all of the granulated sugar with powdered sugar and in the end, I achieved light and airy cookies but it was too soft to roll out and use cookie cutters. Either way, I prefer taste and flavor over appearance any day. I guess it doesn't hurt to have a pretty appearance either because I get pretty pictures like these!

Waffles

Growing up, I always made waffles from the box. I'd like to think at the time, my palette was not refined enough to know any better. I'd make waffles on the weekend all the time for my family and my mom  always complain about how she did not like the Bisquick mix but I had no problem with it. As time went by, I learned that my mom was right, aren't they always. Since then, I made a few waffles from scratch but nothing that satisfied my waffle hunger. I finally found a recipe worth blogging about. I did not realize until I made the waffles that there was no milk but I had buttermilk and almond milk. So...I used mainly buttermilk and a little of the almond milk but the buttermilk was too overpowering. Next time I will add half buttermilk and half milk. I just have to make sure I have milk at home! Other than the lingering aftertaste of tangy buttermilk, everything else was great! The texture and flavor was exactly what I was looking for in a waffle.

I did not realize how much of a difference whipping the egg whites does to the waffle. It makes a significant difference. It's a little time consuming but worth every minute. It is essential to fluffy waffles (in addition to the buttermilk). This is important step and this will make good waffles be great waffles.

Forward to 2011

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I failed at my 2010 To-Bake list but that is what New Year resolutions are for. I am intent on changing for 2011. I took the 2010 list and omitted/added things to the list. I hope I can follow the list so let's see how well I do this year!

2011 To-Bake List

1. seven layer bars

2. cinnamon rolls

3. cheesecake

4. flourless chocolate cake

5. coconut cake (or cupcakes)

6. English muffins

7. molten chocolate cake

8. revel bars

9. green tea sponge cake (see Matcha Cupcakes - practically the same thing)

10. the "ideal" brownie

11. popovers

12. lychee panna cotta

13. semifreddo

14. tiramisu

15. beer bread

16. Pot de creme
17. Tres leches cake/cupcakes

Things to remember but not necessary on my list of things to make:
- tortoni
- torte
- Amaretti cookies

[I'll probably edit the list a few times because I'm still looking for things I want to make]

Oatmeal Cookies

It's nice to be home for Christmas and the holidays because that means I get to bake as much as I want! While baking adds to the holiday pounds, at least I'm enjoying my time off. Speaking of holiday pounds, I do not think oatmeal cookies are as bad as other baking goods. I'd like to think because there is oatmeal, there is some nutritional value, right? Anyways, I like oatmeal and I like raisin but I never had the urge to make oatmeal raisin cookies. However, this recipe is a good recipe, especially if you want something different from the standard chocolate chip cookies. You can take this oatmeal cookie recipe and add in chocolate chips and voila, you have a completely different cookie.

I changed the proportion of brown sugar and white sugar and I liked how it turned out. It gave the cookie a richer butter flavor which I love considering the recipe does not have as much butter compared to other cookies.

These cookies are very versatile so try different add-ins when you want something a little different. I split my batch in half. I left half of the batch plain while I added raisins to the other half.

Panna Cotta

It's probably no surprise to you considering you look at my blog but I have been getting complaints from the family about making the same desserts all the time...cookies, cakes, cupcakes, etc. They wanted something different but of course they did not give me suggestions, I'm just suppose to read their mind. Anyways, I went on a European cruise this past summer and we had a great deal of delectable desserts on the cruise. Every night at dinner my family would tell me, "Why don't you make this?" Well, I decided to take them up on one of their offers by making panna cotta which was one of many dessert items that they enjoyed on the cruise. Panna cotta is a creamy dessert with a slightly gelatinous texture so it holds the shape of something that has gelatin but it is a lot softer and silkier than jello.

I think part of the reason why I stuck to my cookies and cakes was because I liked experimenting with different things to make it healthier or lower in fat. However, panna cotta is not one of those things that you can count in terms of calories because it is basically made of heavy whipping cream. Shh, I didn't tell the family!

Anyways, for the first time of making a dessert I have never had, I did a good job. Yes, that's right, I did not eat the panna cotta on the cruise because I was busy eating other things! Anyways, I have seen it numerous times of the Food Network or on Top Chef that I practically felt like I have had it before.

I like panna cotta because it is a super easy dessert and you can make it look fancy. Also, it is very versatile. You can use almond extract instead of vanilla or you can choose from a variety of toppings to to put onto of your dessert. Give it a try and everyone will think you are an amazing baker, I fooled my family a little!

Paper Cupcakes

Even though it's just paper, it still looks delicious!

Well, that's what I think. As I have mentioned in several posts, I live in the residential halls and work with incoming freshmen. I wasn't going to come back this year but somehow I managed to sway myself back in. Part of the reason why I wanted to come back was because I will be more involved in the residential hall that I work in. This includes making door decorations! I wanted to make door decorations that told the residents something about myself so I decided to make cupcakes. So, I spent five hours on a Saturday night (yes, I have no life) cutting and gluing cupcakes together. It was addicting and I couldn't stop because once I made one type of cupcake, another cupcake flavor popped into my head. No recipe in this blog (unless you want to know the recipe on how to make these adorable cupcakes), it's just something I want to share. As you can tell from previous posts, I love cupcakes!

Can you guess the different flavors?

Starting from top left to bottom right:
1. Chocolate cupcake & strawberry frosting with a chocolate covered strawberry on top
2. Lemon cupcake & lemon scented frosting with a lemon drop on top
3. Cookies and cream cupcake & chocolate frosting with a chocolate cream cookie on top
4. Carrot cupcake & cream cheese frosting with a marzipan carrot on top
5. Yellow cupcake & chocolate frosting with sprinkles on top
6. Red velvet cupcake & cream cheese frosting with red sprinkles on top
7. White cupcake & strawberry frosting with a strawberry on top
8. Chocolate cupcake & vanilla frosting with sprinkles on top

Going Bananas for Banana! (Banana Bread)

I love banana bread for many reasons! If you know me, you're probably thinking I love banana bread because I love bananas! While that is true, it's only partly true. Side note: I have been obsessed with bananas for the past two year and haven't gone more than two days without eating a banana. I eat one for breakfast everyday and if I don't eat it for breakfast, I find some other time in the day to get my daily banana intake. It's a horrible obsession but at least it's a healthy one! Continuing on my banana rant, I only eat bananas at a particular ripeness. The idea banana is a vibrant yellow that is slightly green towards the end (see Oatmeal Banana Streusel Muffins). I don't pick bananas that are all bruised on the bottom. When I go to the grocery store, I only buy enough bananas so I can eat them at their ideal state which meant I bought bananas every three days. I am that picky!

Last summer, I was talking to my friend and she was telling me how she puts bananas in her smoothies and how it is tastier when they are riper. I started trying it out in my own smoothies I made for breakfast and she was right! I slowly became okay with eating riper bananas (deep yellow with speckles) in my peanut butter banana sandwiches, smoothies, and of course...banana bread! I am proud to say that I can buy a week's worth of bananas (one a day) and be okay with eater riper bananas by the end of the week!

Anyways, back to the focus on this blog entry: banana bread! The key to tasty banana is using really ripe bananas. I'm talking mushy and practically brown. I know, it's strange to hear me say this but it is true! This is my favorite banana bread recipe because it is full of banana flavor and it's not too sweet nor too heavy. Also, you can create your own variation of banana bread from this recipe. I have added chocolate chips to make chocolate chip banana bread and I have made whole wheat banana bread where I used half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. Don't worry, the bread did not turn out dry, it was still moist and I felt better about myself after ingesting it!