mint thins, and a giveaway

September 6, 2011 by

*Contest Closed*

As a food blogger, you get offered a lot of odd things for free. My all-time favorite? Kangaroo meat. I wish I were joking.

It’s every blogger’s own decision whether to accept swag or not. Personally, I believe that my blog is all mine, and I don’t do any sponsored posts here. If companies want to send me something, I’m cool with it. I just don’t promise to write about it.

My other rule of thumb is that when I receive things that I honestly do like—things that I would recommend to you all—I have to give them away to you guys. That’s why I’m excited to be handing over this great cookbook from Quirk Books, and a little bummed that I’m not keeping it for myself.

The Cookiepedia by Stacy Adimando (who also writes for Serious Eats), is yes, you guessed it—an cookie encyclopedia. It’s cute and colorful and full of tips for churning out perfect cookies. I do believe this cookbook was tailor made for me.

There are recipes for chocolate lovers.

Recipes for ambitious bakers.

Pretty photos to gaze at even if you don’t bake at all. And if you love to bake, there are recipes for every cookie under the sun, from buttery to spicy to fruity.

I even found a recipe for one of my all-time favorites: mint thins. Or in Girl Scout land, the über popular “Thin Mints.”

It would be irresponsible of me to not test out a recipe from the book before handing it over to one of you. So I just *had* to make them. And as it turns out, they weren’t as labor-intensive as I thought they would be. And worth every minute of preparation.

You begin by churning a thick, buttery dough in the mixer.

After letting it chill, you roll it out and cut into circles.

Bake, then dip in a blissful blend of chocolate and peppermint…

…and twiddle your thumbs as they cool.

In Lucy’s case, twiddle your tiny, very impatient thumbs.

Savor. Lick the melted chocolate from your fingers.

They are, in my approximate estimation, about 11,957 times better than the Girl Scout version. No offense, little ladies.

Try them for yourself using the recipe below. And if you want to try your hand at other types of cool cookies, enter to win The Cookiepedia in the comments. I’ll announce the winner next week!

Contest Rules

  1. To enter to win The Cookiepedia by Stacy Adimando, simply tell me in the comments: What is your favorite type of cookie?
  2. U.S. addresses only, please. I’m paying for the shipping myself, y’all. One entry per person.
  3. A magical random number winner picker computer thingie (that’s it’s technical name) will choose the winner next week.
And the winner is…
Karen! Karen said, “My favorite cookie is chocolate chip. Maybe a little boring but eating one while still warm from the oven with a glass of milk always makes me smile.” Karen, you’re my soul sister. Soul. Sister. I’ll be emailing you with the details. Thanks everyone for entering!

Mint Thins from The Cookiepedia by Stacy Adimando        printable version

Nobody you know will not come by when you say you’re baking homemade mint thins. (If they don’t so much as ask, consider defriending them immediately.) The question is: Do you want to share? The baking and dunking takes no time (especially if you taste as you go), but these bite-sized treats do hold up best (and taste yummiest) once the mint chocolate has had ample time to set. If you’re protective of your stash, store them in the freezer. They’re best with a chill anyway.

Preheat oven to 350F. Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

  • 1 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 c powdered sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 c cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
  • 1/4 c unsalted butter
  • 3/4 tsp peppermint flavor
1. Cream the butter until it’s light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and continue mixing, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture by halves, beating to incorporate after each addition.

2. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and form it into a disk with your hands. Split the disk in half and place them in the fridge to firm up for 1 hour.

3. Working on a floured surface (you’ll need a decent amount, since the dough is sticky), roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Shape the cookies using a 1 1/2-inch round cutter and place them on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, then let cool completely.

4. Break up the chocolate into a bowl and set it over a small pot of simmering water* (make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Add the butter and the peppermint flavor and stir the mixture steadily until it’s fully melted and looks glossy and smooth. Remove the bowl and let the chocolate cool slightly.

5. One by one, drop the cookies in the chocolate, then scoop them out with a fork to let the excess drip off. (Tap the cookies against the side of the bowl to help drain the extra chocolate). Move them carefully to a wire rack or parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. When they’re all coated, move the sheet to the refrigerator or freezer to set.

*Note from RDG: If the chocolate gets too hot, it will harden. To reconstitute it, add a little vegetable oil and/or milk and stir until it comes back to a smooth consistency.

 

Filed Under: food Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

ice cream cookie bars

June 29, 2011 by 11 Comments

There are just no excuses for this dessert. It’s cookies. Layered with ice cream. Layered with more cookies. Layered with more ice cream. Layered with more cookies. Layered with chocolate sauce.

See? No excuses. It’s purely evil. Plan on adding an extra mile to your run. Another 200 push-ups. Twenty more flights of stairs. Whatever you have to do to justify it, do it. Because this concoction is just worth it. I like to serve it at parties so I have partners in dessert crime. Kids love it, too.

It begins as all calorie-laden items do: with cookies. Oreos and Nutter Butters, to be exact.

And then, because cookies aren’t nearly enough, there’s ice cream. Chocolate peanut butter and cookies & cream.

And in addition to the cookies and ice cream, butter. I know, I know.

And then chocolate syrup. For good measure.

Begin by melting the butter. Whirl some Oreos around in a food processor.

…mix with the butter, and press into the bottom of a pan. Freeze for 15 minutes, or until the crust is nice and solid.

Meanwhile, remove the ice creams from the freezer to let soften.

While you’ve got the food processor out, whirl around a few more Oreos until they’re coarsely ground. Not powdery, but no big hunks either.

Do the same with some Nutter Butters.

Remove the pan from the freezer and spread on a layer of ice cream.

Sprinkle on a nice layer of cookie crumbs and pat down. A little helper can assist you with this step (with clean hands, of course. No strawberry jam hands, as my wee one often has. And yes, those are legwarmers on her arms. What can I say? She inherited my love of Flashdance). Freeze again to give the ice cream a chance to solidify.

Next, spread on another layer of ice cream…

…and finish with the rest of the cookie crumbs. Pat down once again.

Drizzle with chocolate sauce. Attempt to make a pretty design and fail miserably. Freeze for 1 hour.

Cut into bars. Serve. Swoon.

This is such a fun, easy dessert for a party, especially for kids (although adults will lick their plates clean, too). Mix and match your favorite cookies and ice creams to create a personalized treat for your little person’s birthday or end-of-the-school-year extravaganza.

Some flavor ideas:

  • Thin mints with mint chip ice cream
  • Chips Ahoy! with chocolate chip ice cream
  • Samoas with caramel ice cream
  • Oatmeal cookies with rum raisin ice cream
  • S’mores: graham crackers with rocky road ice cream
  • Vanilla creme cookies with strawberry ice cream

It’s tastier and easier to make than an ice cream cake (and cheaper than ordering one!), and makes a sinful, chilly treat on a hot summer day. What flavor would you make?

Ice Cream Cookie Bars printable pdf

Makes one 9×13″ pan, or roughly 15-18 servings. Halve the recipe if you’re not serving a crowd. Mix and match your favorite cookies and ice creams to create unique flavors!

  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 16 oz package Oreo cookies
  • 8 oz Nutter Butter cookies (half of one 16 oz package)
  • 1.75 qt cookies & cream ice cream
  • 1.75 qt chocolate peanut butter ice cream
  • chocolate sauce for topping

1) Melt butter. In a food processor, blend 24 Oreo cookies until finely ground. Mix crumbs with butter and press firmly into the bottom of a 9×13″ pan. Freeze 15 minutes or until solid.

2) Let ice cream soften at room temperature for 15 minutes. Pulse remaining Oreos in food processor until very coarsely ground. Repeat with Nutter Butters.

3) Spread chocolate peanut butter ice cream on top of frozen Oreo crust. Sprinkle half of Oreo crumbs and half of Nutter Butter crumbs on top and press down. Freeze for 15 minutes.

4) Spread chocolate peanut butter ice cream on top of cookie layer. Sprinkle the remaining cookie crumbs on top and press down. Cover and freeze for at least 1 hour. Cut into squares and drizzle with chocolate sauce before serving.

 

Filed Under: food Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

bacon compost cookies

February 23, 2011 by 19 Comments

It was nearly 1 year ago to the day that I first discovered the Compost Cookie, the only cookie to ever change my world. It seemed like an odd recipe at first: used coffee grounds, snack foods, corn syrup. But the first batch blew me away. With the second batch I began the tweaking process (I now make them with Kettle Salt & Pepper chips, pretzel sticks instead of twists, Ghiradelli 60% cacao chips, graham crackers freshly whirred in the food processor instead of the packaged crumbs, refrigerate full day before baking and omit the coffee grounds). I suppose it’s fitting that 1 year and 20 batches later I’m finally taking the recipe to the next level.

To all of you who are saying right now, “bacon doesn’t belong in cookies!” read the recipe first; there are stranger ingredients in these cookies. Don’t proceed unless you’re feeling a bit adventurous. And also don’t mock them ’till you’ve tried them.

To those of you who I just heard saying “bacon in cookies? F—- yeah!”, read on, my friends.

Start by frying up some bacon. Chopping into pieces before frying lends a crispier texture without overcooking.

Make the dough (step by step photos in my first compost cookie post) as you usually would, complete with potato chips, pretzels, graham crumbs, oats and chocolate chips.

Here’s where we veer off the beaten path: peanut butter chips. Butterscotch can be an overwhelming flavor for some and I think peanut butter pairs better with bacon.

Bacon. In a cookie that already has a fair amount of salty crunch, it’s not that strange.

Alright, it’s a teeny bit strange to see meat in your cookie dough. But is there anywhere that bacon doesn’t belong? I don’t think so.

Unfortunately, now we must wait. Measure balls of dough and refrigerate at least 1 hour (I like to wait a whole day—I find it yields a better cookie. Just refrigerate as long as you can). Right before you’re ready to bake, roll them between your palms to make them smooth and place on a baking sheet*.

*The cookies pictured were made smaller for a party. Your balls should be much bigger (hee hee!) if you follow the recipe at the bottom of the post.

When they’re done the edges should be darker brown and slightly crispy, while the middles should be pale. They may look under-baked, but resist the temptation to stick them back in the oven.

Once cooled they’ll look more like this, with chewy centers and crispy edges. Perfect.

Expand your cookie repertoire. Take a risk. The results will be well worth it. Cookie carnivores, unite!

-RDG

[print_this]

Bacon Compost Cookies, adapted from Christina Tosi’s recipe from Live with Regis and Kelly

Prep Time: 20 minutes Chill Time: at least 1 hour Bake Time: 9-11 minutes

Special Equipment: Stand mixer. Seriously, you need this.

Makes 15 6 oz cookies.

  • 1 c Butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 c Sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Corn Syrup
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1 3/4 c AP Flour
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/2 c oats (not the quick-cooking variety)
  • 3/4 c chocolate chips
  • 3/4 c peanut butter chips
  • 3/4 c crushed potato chips (use a thick, substantial chip such as a kettle chip for best results)
  • 3/4 c crushed pretzels
  • 1/2 c crumbled bacon pieces

1. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars, and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

2. On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.

3. When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

4. On same low speed, add in the chocolate chips, graham crumbs, oats and peanut butter chips and mix for 30-45 sec until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in the chips, pretzels and bacon last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.

5. Using a 6 oz ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week. DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.

6. Heat oven to 400F. When oven is ready, arrange your chilled cookie dough balls on a parchment or silpat-lined sheetpan a minimum of 4″ apart in any direction. Bake 9-11 min. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread. At 9 min the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don’t match up and your cookies stills seem pale and doughy on the surface.

7. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh 5 days. In the freezer, cookies will keep fresh 1 month.

[/print_this]

Filed Under: food Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

a tale of two cookies

November 16, 2010 by 4 Comments

One rainy afternoon, Lucy and I needed cookies and apple cider. It was just what the day required. Wanting to try something new, I dug out one of my trusty cookbooks, James Peterson’s Baking. Since Mr. Peterson is pretty much a recipe guru, I was curious how he would prepare something as simple and classic as a chocolate chip cookie.

Although they required much more butter and much less sugar than other cookie recipes, the ingredients were otherwise straightforward. And unlike my all-time favorite Compost Cookies, the dough came together quickly and was easy to work with.

My trouble with the recipe began during baking. I set my oven to 375F, lined my baking sheets with parchment paper, and dutifully measured the chilled dough into 2 tablespoon scoops as per the recipe. It said to press the scoops of dough down onto the baking sheet with a greased palm or the bottom of a drinking glass. I thought this was strange and would take the volume out of the cookies, but did so anyway.

After 12 minutes in the oven (not 15, as the recipe recommended), the first batch of cookies were—you guessed it—as flat as a pancake. Nearly burned around the edges, and so crisp that several broke when I moved them.

For the second batch I didn’t press the cookies down and simply placed the dough balls on the baking sheet. After 12 minutes, this batch came out better: taller, softer, and much, much more pleasing to look at.

I was a little stupefied. Did I mis-read the ingredients and do something wrong? Is my oven off by 50 degrees? And if I did everything right, how could such a well-respected cookbook contain such a crappy recipe?

Even these pretty, puffed-up cookies weren’t the best tasting. As doughy as they look, they were much too cakey for my taste. Don’t get me wrong—I didn’t expect this to be the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. I tried it to attempt something new, and new it was.

We’re not all perfect and we’re all prone to screw ups in the kitchen. This cookie debacle reminded me to trust my instincts when I’m cooking. I knew that I shouldn’t have pressed the cookies down just as I knew that the butter and sugar amounts seemed odd. But instead of going with my gut, I followed the recipe to the tee. It was uncharacteristic of me to do this—usually I tweak every recipe I use to my own specifications.

I was being who I loathed in the kitchen: the cook who doesn’t take risks, who takes recipes at face value, who is scared to substitute olive oil for extra virgin olive oil. Cooking can be an exact science if you want it to be. But it can also be creative, flexible and fun. I know what I like more than a cookbook does.

From now on I vow to keep screwing up. I already mess up at least one dish per week. Maybe I’ll make a new goal of two. I’m not going to learn a thing if I don’t attempt new recipes, experiment with ingredients, play with measurements. And isn’t part of the fun of being in the kitchen seeing what you can create, off the recipe page? I can’t promise my daughter the perfect chocolate chip cookies the next time she asks for some. But we’ll get there eventually through trial, error, and lots of tasty mistakes along the way.

-RDG

Filed Under: food Tagged With: , , , , , ,

things you never thought you would do…until you became a parent

June 4, 2010 by 5 Comments

xo

-RDG

(Thank you Josh!)

Filed Under: et cetera, tiny people Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

day 1: martha’s lemon wreaths

December 13, 2009 by 3 Comments

I don’t normally do involved recipes.

IMGP1107

Three steps? Fine.

Four? Sure.

Five? Pushing it.

But this is the 12 days of Bakemas here at RDG. So I have to pull out all the stops, people.

Let this serve as fair warning: this is an involved recipe.

IMGP1101

Leave it to Martha to make things complicated. But my oh my, is it worth it. You’ve never had tastier lemon cookies.

And if you have, don’t tell Ms. Stewart.

I am the laziest cook on the planet, so if I can do it, you can do it.

Let’s begin.

IMGP1057

For dry ingredients you’ll need flour, coarse salt, and baking powdah.

IMGP1056

And sugar. Oh boy do you need sugar. Granulated, powdered, and raw*, please.

*The raw is for decorating. So if you’ve got some sprinkles, fancy sparkly colored sugar, or chopped nuts you feel like stickin on top of the cookies, by all means omit the raw sugar.

IMGP1058

Now for the good stuff. Two sticks of unsalted butter (room temperature), vanilla extract, three eggies, and four large lemons or six small ones.

Got all that? Sweet.

IMGP1059

Stick three cups of flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, and a teaspoon and a quarter of coarse salt in a mixing bowl. Mix it on up, baby.

IMGP1061

Grate one tablespoon plus one teaspoon of lemon zest. I used small lemons and I zested two of ‘em.

IMGP1062

Toss the zest in a food processor with 2/3 cup of granulated sugar.

Pulse for a few minutes until it’s nice and combined.

IMGP1063

Poof! Lemon sugar.

Now, then…

IMGP1064

…lop those lovely little lemons in half.

And if you can figure out how I could have said that sentence with more l-words, you win a Lamborghini.

IMGP1066

Juice ‘em. Juice ‘em real good.

IMGP1067

Cube the butter and throw it in the mixer. And I mean throw it. There is nothing funner to throw than butter.

IMGP1068

Toss in the lemon sugar…

IMGP1069

…and cream until it’s nice n’ fluffy.

Okay, not fluffy. The stuff’s not gonna look like a friggin bunny rabbit. But you know, combined evenly.

IMGP1071

Add the eggs, one at a time, and try to take a picture of the blade spinning around and around without getting dizzy.

IMGP1072

Add one teaspoon vanilla…

IMGP1074

…and one teaspoon of the lemon juice.

Now here’s where it gets good.

IMGP1076

Add the flour mixture a little bit at a time. Slow ‘n steady wins the race when adding flour, my friends.

Think tortoises.

IMGP1077

At the end it should look something like this. Dough-like.

If not–for instance, if you suddenly find ground beef in your mixing bowl–something has gone terribly awry.

IMGP1079

Scoop out a spoonful of that beautiful lemony dough onto a floured surface. Martha says to do it a tablespoon at a time to make 6 dozen cookies.

Yep, 72 cookies. Rolled out and shaped by hand. And then baked. And then glazed. And then decorated. 72.

IMGP1080

Yeah, ummm…that’s not going to work for me. So I made giant versions. I rolled out about three tablespoons of dough at a time…

IMGP1081

Into strips about 6-7 inches long*. Now’s the time to line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

*If you want to do it Martha’s way, roll out one tablespoon at a time into 4-inch strips.

IMGP1085

I ended up with two dozen. Much more manageable. And easier. And lazier.

Toss em’ in a 350 degree oven, one sheet at a time, for about 18 minutes.

While those are baking, let’s make some glaze, shall we?

IMGP1087

Throw three cups of powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the remainder of the lemon juice, or 7-8 tablespoons.

IMGP1088

Mix it on up, sugar.

IMGP1090

Bee-youtiful.

You should probably lick the wisk, just to make sure it’s not poisonous.

IMGP1092

Alrighty. By now those cookies should be ready to go. Pull em’ out of the oven and them cool off for a spell.

IMGP1094

Meanwhile, pour your glaze into a shallow dish. It’s better for dippin, my dears.

I don’t see any lemon seeds in there, do you? *Whistles*

IMGP1093

Bust out some of that raw sugar (Martha wants you to use nonpareils, but I don’t like the taste of ‘em, so I went a different route. Feel free to use whatever tickles your cookie-decorating fancy).

IMGP1095.

Dip the top half of each cookie in the glaze and set on a rack (or back on your parchment paper) to let dry.

IMGP1098

Hello, gorgeous.

IMGP1099

Before the glaze dries, sprinkle each cookie with a few pinches of raw sugar, or whatever you’ve chosen to decorate these little beauties with.

IMGP1100

Oh my.

Let the glaze dry for an hour or two before you transfer them to an airtight container.

Or eat them all in one fell swoop.

IMGP1101

Oh. My. Goodness.

IMGP1102

These wreaths are bee-youtiful.

IMGP1105

Although “wreaths” is a relative term for me. My batch looked more like mis-shapen doughnuts.

IMGP1108

But boy were they tasty.

IMGP1113

And delicious. The cookie has a dense, shortbread-esque quality, the glaze is tangy, and the extra pinch of sugar on top gave it a tiny bit of crunch.

IMGP1114

Martha, you do dang fine work. And although my cookies will never look as perfect as yours, a gal can try.

Happy 1st day of Bakemas!

-RDG

Lemon Wreaths (from Martha Stewart Living, December 2009, pg. 98)

For the Cookies

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

For the Glaze

  • 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 7 to 8 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup nonpareils for decorating (I used raw sugar)

1. Preheat oven to 350. To make the cookies: Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Pulse sugar and lemon zest in a food processor until combined (about 2 minutes).

2. Beat sugar-zest mixture and butter in a mixer on meduim speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until combined.

3. Scoop 1 tablespoon dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 4 inch rope. Bring ends together, overlapping slightly, and press together to form a ring. Repeat with remaining dough. Transfer rings to parchment-lined baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart as you work. Bake until pale golden on the bottoms and around the edges, about 18 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

4. To make the glaze: whisk together confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth. Dip the top side of each cookie into glaze, letting excess drip off. Return cookies to wire racks, glaze side up, and sprinkle with nonpareil. Let dry completely. Decorated cookies can be stored at room temperature for 3 days.

Filed Under: food Tagged With: , , , ,