Piped Sugar Cookie Flowers and Butterflies

Currently, my oven is leaking gas…which means I can’t bake until it’s fixed!  How depressing…

So I managed to find some old pictures of piped sugar cookies I had made last year as practice for a craft fair table I was going to have.  The craft fair idea didn’t hold through, but I learned how to pipe sugar cookies.  A time-consuming yet fun and rewarding process.  I surprised my close friend with some of these cookies and it made me feel good to know that I left her with a happy stomach, a smile on her face, and a rejuvenated spirit.  There is almost nothing better than eating something delicious from someone who cares about you.  Give these cookies as a gift, packed in a treat bag and tied with a ribbon.  Or just keep them for yourself!  There’s no harm in that.

Recipe:

Makes about 7 large cutout cookies.  This recipe adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan.

For the dough:

1/2 teas. salt
1/2 teas. baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teas.vanilla extract

For the Royal Icing:

4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons meringue powder
6 Tablespoons water
Wilton’s Gel Food Coloring

Tools:

At least one Wilton’s #3 piping tip
At least one pastry bag with coupler
(If you want to pipe multiple colors, having more than one piping tip and bag will be necessary. One bag and tip for each color is ideal, but not necessary-read recipe for more info)

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and beat for 2 minutes, until mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the egg and yolk and beat for another minute until incorporated. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low, slowly add the flour and mix until just incorporated. Finish blending the dough with a rubber spatula (you don’t want to over mix sugar cookie dough).

Divide the dough in half and place each half on a piece of plastic. Shape dough into a disk and wrap. Refrigerate the dough for about 2 hours, until chilled. Once dough is chilled, keep the plastic on and using a rolling-pin, roll each disk until it’s 1/4 inch thick. Cut cookies out with cookie cutter and place them on a cookie sheet about 1/2 inch apart.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake them in the oven for 9-11 minutes until firm and still pale. Let them cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute and then transfer them to a cooling rack until they are room temperature. Cookies must be at room temperature before piping frosting on them.

Repeat with the rest of the dough, cooling the cookie sheets between each batch. The dough can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

While cookies are cooling, make the royal icing. Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix for 7-10 minutes or until the icing loses its shine. This consistency of icing is perfect for piping outlines on the cookies. If you would like to have different colored icing, separate icing in smaller bowls for each color you want to have. Having many colors to pipe gets tricky when you don’t own many piping tips and bags. However, it is do-able. If anything, you can have many piping bags and only one or two #3 piping tips (just clean and interchange the piping tips between colors).

Pipe an outline on the cookie with desired color and let icing dry. Repeat with all the cookies.

With left over icing, add a few drops of water at a time, mixing after each addition until the icing becomes a liquid consistency. To test the consistency of the icing, let some of the icing drop into the bowl. Count to 10 seconds, the droplet should have disappeared in exactly that amount of time.

To fill the cookies in with the thinner royal icing, drizzle a small amount over the entire cookie. Use a toothpick to push the icing to the inside edges of the outline you made before. Let te icing dry. Tada!  Now you have a pretty, shiny, royal icing frosted cookie!

~Amanda

Chocolate Molten Cakes-Love at First Sight

These molten cakes are memorable. So memorable in fact, I don’t remember why I made them 3 years ago, but only the cake itself. When I took the spoon to the cake and then to my mouth, I watched as the chocolate pudding poured from my cake to the plate…it was there my love for baking began. It mesmerized me. The cake was rich, moist, so satisfying and topped with whipped cream….mmmmmm. The chocoholic’s cure.

These are so easy to make despite its elegant look. I have no doubt that it will become your go-to recipe.

Every year my Mom asks me to make Chocolate Molten Cakes for her birthday. This year she didn’t even have to ask, all she had to say was “You know what I want for my birthday…”  Happy Birthday, Mom <3

Recipe:

From Kraft Food & Family

 

4 squares of Baker’s Semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
whipped cream and/or powdered sugar for topping

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Butter 4 custard cups or ramekins. Place on a baking sheet to make it easier to carry it from the oven to the table. Microwave the chocolate and butter in a large microwavable bowl on high for 1 minute or until chocolate and butter is melted (if there is still little chunks of chocolate in the melted butter, stir until the chocolate melts). Whisk in the powdered sugar until incorporated. Whisk in the eggs. Whisk in the flour. Divide the batter between the 4 custard cups.

Bake for 13 to 14 minutes or until the sides are firm but the centers are soft. Let them cool for 1 minute. Gentlely run a knife around the edge of each cake and carefully invert the cakes on plates (they’ll still be hot). Top with whipped cream and/or powdered sugar.

Sugar Cookie Buttons

It’s always slightly depressing after Christmas is over.  Extended family members disperse back to their humble abodes, the Christmas lights stashed away, and the waiting for ‘A Christmas Story’ to return to TV begins again.  I did however have one small keepsake from the holidays to take with me…a small piece of leftover sugar cookie dough.  So needing to satisfy a baking urge, I made these: small, buttery, almost bite-size sugar cookies with a crunchy coating of colorful sprinkles.

Recipe:

Since I made these cookies with leftover dough, I’m not certain how many cookies the full recipe will make.  I’m guessing about 50 cookies.  This recipe was adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan.

 

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teas. salt
1/2 teas. baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teas.vanilla extract
colored sprinkles

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and beat for 2 minutes, until mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the egg and yolk and beat for another minute until incorporated. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low, slowly add the flour and mix until just incorporated. Finish blending the dough with a rubber spatula (you don’t want to over mix sugar cookie dough).

Divide the dough in half and place each half on a piece of plastic. Shape dough into a disk and wrap. Refrigerate the dough for about 2 hours, until chilled.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In the meantime, fill a small bowl with colored sprinkles. Roll dough into one inch balls and then roll into the sprinkles until completely coated. Place on cookie sheet about 1 1/2 in. apart. Using your thumb or the bottom of a glass cup, press cookies until they’re about 1/2 in. thick (you can make them thinner if you want a crunchier cookie). Bake them in the oven for 10-12 minutes until firm and still pale. Let them cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute and then transfer them to a cooling rack until room temperature.

Repeat with the rest of the dough, cooling the cookie sheets between each batch.  The dough can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 3 days.