October 19th, 2012 § § permalink
If confetti was a cookie, they would definitely be glittering cookie sandwiches. Also, let me just tell you that this was my first time ever making these lovelies which A) was totally worth it and B) reminded me how important it is not to make up your own portion sizes when it comes to sweets. Technically they are supposed to be bite-sized (making a total of 5 dozen), but my laziness got the better of me and I decided I was just going to make fewer, bigger cookies… um, no. Not a good idea at all. Bite size is about all you can handle of the sweetness, so take my word for it.
Glittering Cookie Sandwiches from The Gourmet Cookie Book inspired by The Purl Bee:
Ingredients:
Cookies
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
Sanding sugars in various colors
Filling
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons almond extract
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
To Make the Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place flour, cornstarch and salt in a bowl, mix togetgher and set aside.
With electric mixer, mix butter, confectioners’ sugar, almond extract and vanilla until fluffy.
Add flour mixture and mix on low until dough forms.
Place each sanding sugar into a small bowl.
Roll dough into balls, 1/2-inch in diameter, then roll balls in sanding sugar. Place balls on parchment lined baking sheet, 3/4-inch apart.
Bake for 9-11 minutes. Bottoms should just be turning golden. Remove and place on cooling racks.
To Make Filling:
With electric mixer, mix all filling ingredients on medium until combined.
Complete Cookies:
With offset spatula place approximately 1/4 teaspoon of filling on half a cookie, sandwich the other half to form a ball.
To package them, fill a clear take out container with different colors, and tie a gold ribbon around the top!
August 7th, 2012 § § permalink
You know me well enough by now to know that I’m sold on anything named fairy bread. Admittedly, the name can however scare off husbands and teenagers, and by scare off I mean they may suffer a little hazing if they unpack fairy bread from their lunch. Every one else will love it though, including you since this is the easiest sandwhich ever.
The traditional fairy bread recipe uses just butter and sprinkles, and as much as I love butter, I opt to make an actual sandwich with my sprinkles. To make my version, cut off the crust and the use a cookie cutter to get the shape you want. Then spread either peanut butter or nutella (with a dash of honey), and dust it with sprinkles. All done!
Don’t you think this is such a cute way to surprise someone? You could even use them as finger foods for a party!
August 1st, 2012 § § permalink
I love anything that can be classified as “mini”, especially when it comes to food. There are several reasons for this: First, everything becomes diet appropriate (in my mind) when mini-sized, secondly, it also usually cuts down my chances of having an embarrassing chocolate on the face/sauce on the dress moment at get togethers. With that being said, no one looks cute eating a giant candied apple, let alone coming out of it with a clean face. So, using a totally non-secret scooping tool, I made bite-size candied apples.
Cut striped paper straws into fourths, and then stick them in the apple scoops.
Melt white chocolate chips to dip the bites, and dust them with sprinkles. Once they’re cool, serve them on tissue paper dots!
July 19th, 2012 § § permalink
Let’s be frank, if you were to tell someone that you’re having cookies and coffee for breakfast, they would judge you. Heck, I might even judge, although I would be secretly jealous, so I can’t say for sure. Nonetheless, if you say you’re having biscotti and coffee for breakfast it’s all of the sudden classy. I’m not sure why that is but I don’t care! I’m having cookies, uh..biscotti for breakfast. To add a festive punch to it, I decided to dip them in colored white chocolate, which is not only the perfect touch to brighten your morning, but easily transforms them into party perfect bites.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon anise extract, or 3 drops anise oil
- 1 16 ounce bag of white chocolate chips
- Colored powered or oil (for colored chocolate)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, beat together the oil, eggs, sugar and anise flavoring until well blended. Combine the flour and baking powder, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. Divide dough into two pieces. Form each piece into a roll as long as your cookie sheet. Place roll onto the prepared cookie sheet, and press down to 1/2 inch thickness.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. When The cookies are cool enough to handle, slice each one crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices cut side up back onto the baking sheet. Bake for an additional 6 to 10 minutes on each side. Slices should be lightly toasted.
- Melt white chocolate chips in a small bowl (using either the microwave or double boiling). Dip each piece into the chocolate and let them cool on wire rack. Once they are completely cooled, dip them again (but only halfway) in colored white chocolate*.
*To color chocolate, you must have either oil based or powdered colors.
Don’t these make for the cutest coffee or tea party?
May 2nd, 2012 § § permalink
I could’t help but title this pretty in pink. It’s just so..pretty..in pink. I’ll also confess that this post may have been inspired by a Downton Abbey moment that I had a few days ago that involved sugar cubes and a coffee creamer set. I felt so proper that I couldn’t help but be determined to find a fitting cake to go along with it. I’d say this fancy recipe pairs well, don’t you think?
Dark Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Fluffy Rosewater Frosting by Sweetapolita
Yield: 1 standard bundt cake (chiffon in a bundt pan)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (60g) dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons (10 mL) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.5g) salt
- 4 eggs, separated, and room temperature
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) vegetable oil (I used Sunflower oil)
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) water (warm)
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
Method
1. Preheat oven to 350° F (180°C).
2. Butter and flour (I use cocoa powder for this process when baking chocolate cake) the entire inside surface of a 10-12 cup (2.5 L) bundt or you can use an angel food pan. Just a note that typically, you wouldn’t grease the pan for a chiffon cake, but this recipe comes from the book Baking with Julia, and greasing the pan is directed …read here for more…
