Part XXIV: Molasses Spice Cookies

The recipe for the molasses spice cookies called for a quarter teaspoon of dry mustard. This made me very curious how the cookies would turn out.

Dry mustard I've had in my cabinet for at least 5 years. How long does this stuff keep?

Why a bull? This dry mustard means business!

The recipe called for shortening instead of butter, margarine, or even butter flavor Crisco.

Egg and molasses before they get mixed into the sugar and vegetable shortening

The dry ingredients-flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and of course, mustard

Silpat-I forgot I had this fabulous baking gadget until someone reminded me the other day. I received it as a gift, from the same fine couple to give me the immensely useful Metric Wonder Cup. Silpat is like a technologically advanced parchment paper. I wanted to know exactly what Silpat was composed of, and Wikipedia came to my rescue. "Silpat is the brand name of a popular silicone mat used in baking and in the production of candy to provide a non-stick surface without fat or parchment paper. Silpats contain a glass fiber weave that reinforces the silicone. It was invented by the French chemist Guy Demarle "

I used Silpat in addition to the parchment paper and I can't say it is superior to the parchment paper, but it is not inferior. I think i will have to perform further testing before I can reach a conclusion. When I bake tuiles, a long time from now (they appear on page 186 and I am currently on page 39), I think that's when Silpat will really come in handy.

Verdict: While the mustard did give the cookies some nice spicy heat I wouldn't make them again. They were too crunchy and crispy. I couldn't tell if that is how they were supposed to turn out, or if I left them in the oven too long. I have a standard gingerbread cookie recipe that so far none of the ones in this cookbook have been able to surpass.

Stay tuned for next week's selections:

Baker's One Bowl Coconut Macaroons. There is an option for Chocolate Dipped Macaroons which I will try.

Bran Fruit and Nut Cookies

Oatmeal Pecan Scotchies


Grape Hyacinth from Jill's garden. Elliot was sweet and picked it just for me!

Part XXIII: Butterscotch Crispies

The word butterscotch got me excited when I initially read the recipe. I was hoping butterscotch chips would be part of the recipe. Unfortunately butterscotch basically referred to brown sugar, margarine, and salt. Oh well. The recipe called for puffed rice cereal, aka rice crispies, so I was curious how these would turn out.

The recipe had me sifting the dry ingredients onto waxed paper. I couldn't figure out why. So I took the liberty of sifting everything into a bowl.

Brown sugar and margarine-soft and crumbly

Add the egg and vanilla

Stir in the dry ingredients

Verdict: I would make these again. They called for a teaspoon of salt, which is a lot of salt for a cookie recipe, in case you didn't know. The saltiness complimented well with the two and a half cups of brown sugar. I love sweet and salty treats, so this fit the bill. Also, the cookie itself was moist, but the rice crispies gave it a lightness and crunch which was quite pleasant. When I brought these cookies to the egg decorating party, I got quite a few compliments!

Next up: Molasses Spice Cookies

XXII: Applesauce Raisin Chews

Happy Easter! I can't think of a better way to kick off Easter weekend then by baking cookies to take to our yearly Easter festivities with friends. Saturday is for egg decorating, and Sunday is for the official Easter party with egg hunt. Many fabulous prizes have been won over the years after the egg hunt. When we were younger a coveted prize could have been a keg stand, but in recent years, when our friends started having children, the prizes have change somewhat.

A heaping cup of plump raisins.

They look better close up.

Organic brown sugar-it looks completely different then the regular stuff.

Brown sugar, applesauce, cinnamon, butter, egg and vanilla. I like the way the dough clings to the beaters.

Ready to go into the oven.

Voila! Cross section of a cookie with a bite taken out of it.











Verdict: I have to admit that this was the first time in a long time I kept sticking my finger in the dough because it was so tasty. The cookies came out very moist and soft, which I think the applesauce had something to do with. Even though I am not usually a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies these weren't too bad. They were tasty enough that I felt I could make them for someone who enjoyed oatmeal raisin cookies. But I still think the name Oatmeal Raisin Chews sounds like a dog treat.

Next Up: Butterscotch Crispies

Part XXI: Soft Molasses Spice Cookies

I am partial to molasses cookies, and this recipe even had me icing them, so whats not to like?

Flour, and spices: Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

The cookie dough was sticky and stubborn. It clung to the spoon and I definitely couldn't roll them in balls. I just plopped them onto the well loved parchment paper.

Verdict: These cookies were tasty but needed the icing. They were dry, but soft, so I know I didn't over bake them.

As I go through these pictures I can't help noticing how dark they are. Unless its just my computer? I'm going to have to put a floodlight in the kitchen, or photograph everything outside. Which wouldn't be weird at all. I will just lay cookies in the grass and snap away.

Also, I recently saw a recipe for bacon chocolate chip cookies on another blog.

They look damn good. I have a feeling in the near future I am going to have to try these and of course record and post my attempt.

Speaking of food porn, check out my friend and coworker Rita's blog. I love it!

Next week's selections are:

Applesauce Raisin Chews. I think its the word "chews" that make them sound like dog treats

Butterscotch Crispies

Molasses Spice Cookies

Part XX: Fresh Orange Cookies

I am beginning this post with a picture of a round piece of green rubber, a wonderful and cheap gadget used to loosen tight jar lids. Why? Because it reminds me of my mom. A little strange, I know, but growing up we had one and it got a lot of use. It reminds me of being in the kitchen with Mom and helping her cook or doing my homework at the table while she made dinner. The one pictured above is courtesy of Winchester Savings Bank.

The most noteworthy item about these cookies is that the recipe called for one finely chopped, unpeeled orange. I used the food processor to get the orange chopped finely and evenly enough. It felt really strange to drop sections of the orange in with the peel attached. Its one thing to use a teaspoon or so of the zest, but this seemed a little extreme. I was hoping the cookies would be tasty and not too bitter or overpowered by the peel.

The orange glaze called for zest, so I pulled out this little guy from the recesses of one of my kitchen drawers.

Turns out this is an orange peeler, not a zester. It worked pretty well but obviously wasn't the tool I needed for this job. Had to use the birdie zester.

I accidentally dropped the zester on the rug and Phyllis was right there, trying to bat it around.


Zesty!

The icing instructions were to simply to take softened butter, powdered sugar, orange juice and zest and mix it all together. No heating of the butter first or anything of that nature. I thought that was a little strange, but figured that as long as the butter was sufficiently soft the orange juice would contain the required liquid to create the icing. This is what I ended up with.

This didn't look right at all, so I added more powdered sugar.

You can't really tell from this photo, but the extra powdered sugar didn't help. The icing was lumpy and way too thin. I probably should have melted the butter, as that was creating the lumps, and used less, maybe half, of the orange juice that was called for.

The cookies came out looking good, though

I ended up icing, or trying to ice, some of the cookies. Fail

Verdict: I might make these again. Even though the peel was chopped well enough, I kept anticipating taking a bite of cookie and finding myself with a mouthful of bitter orange peel. They were tasty, but that feeling ruined it for me. Alas.

Next up: Soft Molasses Spice Cookies

Part XIX: Maple Walnut Cookies

I was looking forward to making these because I like maple syrup and I don't come across many recipes based around it.

I didn't get past the A's while perusing iTunes so these cookies were made to the sounds of the French electronic duo, Air, an Icelandic group, Amina, and a one man project from San Diego, The Album Leaf, all soothing to an ear that has heard too much keyboard clacking at work this week. Ugh.

All the ingredients I am using for this weekend's three selections.

Some seriously well loved parchment paper. Its starting to disintegrate, I might be forced to use (gasp!) new pieces soon!

This is a little creepy

Warning: Colorful bowls were used in the making of these cookies

The stunning metric wonder cup is being put to use again, for the decidedly less stunning "butter flavor" Crisco.

Instead of maple syrup, I used maple cream, which we have an abundance of in tiny jars from various Christmases and other holidays.

I figured that the microwave would turn the thick maple cream into a pourable syrup. I didn't think a minute in the microwave would turn the maple cream into this. Oops.

Yellow bowl in use

Green bowl's turn

Outfitted with a walnut

Camera shy

Red bowl used for display purposes

Milo on the move

Verdict: I'd give these another try. They were a little dry and crunchy, two traits I do not generally like in a cookie, but the flavor was alright. I have to wonder if my destroyed by microwave maple cream was to blame for the texture.

Next Up: Fresh Orange Cookies