On the 6th day of Baking

Day 6 -
Since a crazy snow storm stopped me from returning home to my kitchen to bake last night, I missed the official day 6 of baking (chronologically anyway). I am, however, back safely and baking with zeal! I was excited to try some new cookies I found on the Food Network (have I ever mentioned how obsessed I am with the Food Network - or perhaps I should say was, as I no longer have cable) that got 4 stars. I was pretty exhausted and a bit skeptical of these since they had coconut, but I dove in anyway.

Toffee Crunch Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 (10-ounce) bag toffee candy bits
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup sweetened flake coconut
1 cup chopped whole, skinned almonds

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla.
• Beat the eggs slightly; then add to the butter mixture and mix well.
• In a medium bowl, sift flour, salt and baking soda; then add slowly to the moist ingredients and mix thoroughly.
• Mix in the toffee bits, oatmeal, coconut and nuts.
• Drop dough by the teaspoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Notes of Interest:
--- Out of personal preference I substituted pecans for almonds and it worked just fine.
--- This dough may possibly be the best dough I have ever tasted. I should stop and say this is not implying that anyone should ever eat raw dough with eggs in it. I know this is a very bad habit (and completely grosses Brad out), but alas it is my favorite part of making cookies. Anyhow, this dough is like soft granola bars... with toffee... and brown sugar, and, well, it's pretty much heaven. I was so excited that I had found my new favorite cookie. Sadly, when it cooked it just got too hard (or more literally crunchy) for my preference (I'm a soft fluffy cookie person) -- it still worked for me while the cookies were hot, but once cooled the cooked toffee spreads through the cookie and hardens it up. It is still a great tasting cookie though.
--- Ignore the listed direction to bake these cookies for 15 minutes. Whoever wrote that should be kicked out of the kitchen! I personally believe most baked goods (brownies, cookies, pies) taste best slightly undercooked - so these worked for me about 11 minutes, but if you didn't I wouldn't leave them in any longer than 13 minutes max. The toffee will burn quickly and it will make the cookie rock hard.

*** Pics are coming soon of the last few cookies -- I may have lost my card reader and 1 of my SD cards on my work trip. I hope to update at least this one soon but I have to find another card reader first. =(

On the 5th day of Baking...

Day 5 -
I have become sort of "known" at work for my brownies. I find this amusing as they are so much easier to make than say, homemade Nestle-Toll House chocolate chip cookies, which I used to make for co-worker's birthdays. But, the people have unanimously prefered brownies, so that is what they get. My good friend's birthday is this Saturday, however, he is a celiac (AKA cannot eat wheat). He was kind enough to buy me gluten-free brownie mix to make him some anyway. I also had planned to make a batch of gluten-filled peppermint brownies (from one of my favorite blog sites) for Day 5, but work would end up getting in the way. I found at at the last minute that I had to go on a work trip leaving that evening, so my baking would have to suffer for the night. Therefore, both batches ended up box made. I felt like Milli-Vanilli making boxed baked goods, but there really was no other choice. They did come out fab. though, I must admit.

On the 4th day of Baking...

Day 4 -
I'm not sure how or why it is so much fun to make cookies with cookie cutters and then decorate them, but it really is. It makes me feel a tad juvenille, but I really don't care as I grin from ear to ear and make an absolute mess. It is divine. My only minor complaint was that I made them alone, I really should have waited for Brad to join me as I'm sure he would have enjoyed it too! Oh well, 8 more days of chances for that! (Plus he has some he has requested to join in on.) =)

Alton Brown's Sugar Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color.
• Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill.
• Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat.
• Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time.
• Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack.

Notes of Interest:
--- Since I didn't have a whole lot of time, I actually didn't make the frosting myself (I know, it should be a sin), but I found the greatest frosting in a little container that worked fine. It also sets SUPER fast, which was good for stacking the cookies for storage, but it was so fast I thought I could ice them all and then come back and add sprinkle them - I was sorely mistaken. I learned my lesson fairly quickly though and was able to fix the rest.

On the 2nd day of baking...

Day 2 -


My "little sister" Christy makes these INCREDIBLE cookies that I finally stole the recipe for. Since I love them so much it was only fair that they made it into the 12 day baking marathon. I must admit, I was a bit afraid of the idea of sour milk going into anything tasty, but I am an avid fan of these cookies (even though I don't really like butterscotch), so I followed the recipe. Christy says if you don't sour the milk the cookies will be too sweet.

German Butterscotch Jumbo Cookies

1 1/2 cp. milk
3 tsp. vinegar
2 cps. sugar
1 cp. shortening
2 eggs
4 cps. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 bag (12 oz.) butterscotch chips
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. sugar

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a small bowl combine milk and vinegar. Let sit 5 minutes for milk to sour.
• In a large bowl, mix together sugar, shortening, vanilla and eggs.
• In another small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
• Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and the milk to the wet bowl.
• Add butterscotch chips and mix well.
• Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
• Mix together cinnamon and sugar topping; sprinkle on each cookie.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes.

Notes of Interest:
--- The cookies are SO moist and delicious, but truthfully I would add more butterscotch next time. The cookie can handle more.
--- I don't believe these cookies have any true German origins. I believe they were named as such because Christy would make them for her German class in High School!

12 Days of Baking

Somehow Christmas time always seems like such a good time to bake. If nothing else it's a great excuse to heat my apartment without turning the heater on! After debating on what to bake this year and being so overwhelmed with great choices, I decided I'd bake them all. Ok, not all of my favorites, but 12. Sort of symbolic, I thought it would be fun! I'm just hoping I didn't bite off more than I can chew! Figured plates of goodies would make great gifts for some of my coworkers, friends, and such... not to mention the added bonus that I get of snagging some for myself along the way!

Wish me luck!