Sunday, October 30, 2011

Favorite sugar cookie recipe?

Hey Bloggers or web browzerers... i need you all to do me a huge favor if you can. Can you please email or comment to me your favorite sugar cookie recipe or a link to your favorite sugar cookie recipe. its really important to me to find out the very best one EVER. And if you send me your recipe (or link to your fav recipe) i'll make the cookies right away and then comment back to you and let you know what i thought of them. THANKYOU bunches!!! email me at anh5556@gmail.com or comment on this post
https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfgh3wxb_30hb9m6tdf&pli=1

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Purple M&M Cookies



The last 2 cookies I made (the m&m bars and the chewy butter cookies) were both good, however nothing is as good as my blue m&m cookies. Blue m&m cookies and the mini chip roll out cookies are my 2 most favorite cookie recipes. So theyre always what I want the very most and I usually have some frozen so that theyre available at all times. Howver I ran out of both a while ago so last night I had to make some more blue m&m cookies but this time I made purple m&m cookies. Same recipe, just purple instead of blue. Thought I would make purple instead of blue since its almost halloween. And I couldnt possibly make the cookies orange or black. Those 2 colors and yellow and brown are all my very least favorite colors.

Purple m&m cookies
(same recipe as blue m&m cookies, except substitute purple food coloring for blue food coloring)
Click HERE for recipe.




Self-raising flour

Self-raising flour


215 g (2 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour (plain flour)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine salt


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Funfetti Gooey Butter Cookies



FUNFETTI GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES
(adapted from HERE and HERE)

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup Crisco
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese
1 Funfetti cake mix
2 cups mini vanilla chips
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. In large mixing bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Gradually beat in cake mix. Add and Mix in mini chips on low speed just till combined. Cover and refrigerate 2 hrs. Roll dough into Tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in the powdered sugar. Bake 10 min at 350.

Monday, October 24, 2011

m&m sugar cookie bars



M&M SUGAR COOKIE BARS
original recipe: click HERE

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
M&Ms

Directions;
1- Preheat the oven to 350.
2- Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar.
3- Once it's slightly cooled (about 3 minutes) beat in the egg and vanilla.
4- In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Stir this into the wet mixture.
5- Pour into a greased 8x5 baking dish (or similar size). Bake for approximately 15 minutes.
6- Pull out of the oven and top with M&Ms, gently pressing them into the dough.
7- Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, or until the top is set and the cookies don't wiggle when you shake the pan. They should still be white with barely golden edges.
8- Cool completely in the pan before slicing. Yields 8 cookie bars.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Mini Chip Cut-out Cookies

PHOTO SOURCE: CREATEDBYDIANE

This is officially my new favorite cookie recipe EVER. Of all cookies I've ever made or tried. And I've tried a lot. So that's to say a lot. History behind this cookie: when I was little, we had a Mrs fields cookie shop at our mall and every time I went there, I had to get a cookie monster cookie. They were soooo good. They were thick cut-out cookie monster cookies with tons of bright blue butter cream frosting. But it wasn't a frosted "sugar" cookie, it was a frosted chocolate chip cut out cookie. And I remember always thinking that that was so cool. Yet at the time, It never even crossed my mind that I could one day make my own cookie just like it. I was way too young. The only thing I knew how to bake was nestle toll house original chocolate chip cookies that always came out super flat and gross, but even that was a huge accomplishment for me. The Internet was also a new thing at that time. We had one computer and It ran super slow and wasn't even worth taking the time to use it. Blogger sites didn't yet exist and so it wasn't as easy to research recipes or get blogger inspiration. But through the years, Ive always remembered my cookie monster cookie and then when I saw a recipe for mini chip cut out cookies on both nestles site as well as sugarbelles site, I knew It was possible to replicate my favorite long lost cookie. BTW: Ive looked online to see if Mrs fields still makes those same cookie monster cookies and they don't): But If I ever find a picture of one, I'll for sure post it. One blogger actually happened to make some cookie monster mini chip cut out cookies. HERE'S the link. (that's her photo I have posted above) I wonder if she used to buy them too when she was young(: So tonight I didn't actually make mini chip cookie monster cutouts, instead I made mini chip "heart" cutouts. I don't have a cookie monster cookie cutter yet, but as soon as I get one... Regardless, this was the same concept, same taste, and honestly this is the best cookie Ive ever had. Not just because of my childhood memory, but holy shiz! this is a really good recipe!



Mini Chip Cut-out Cookies
(adapted from THIS recipe)
(or adapted from THIS recipe)

1 cup butter (unsalted)
1 c powdered sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup white mini chips
1 cup milk chocolate mini chips

Cream together the butter and sugars. To that add the vanilla, salt, and egg yolk. Add flour one cup at a time until completely incorporated. Then, BY HAND or on low speed w/ mixer, fold in the mini chips.

*MEANWHILE, PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 350°*

While you wait for the oven to warm, wrap your dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least thirty minutes. When it is chilled, roll out cookies on lightly floured parchment and bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. (I rolled mine like 1/2" thick)

Frost cooled cookies however desired. For the purple heart cookies pictured above I used Royal Icing (this particular recipe.)



Royal Icing


Purple Moon Cookie (cookie dough: Bakeat350)


Royal Icing
1 egg white
2 to 2.5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assorted Food Colors

Beat egg white w/ electric mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat at low speed until moistened. increases mixer speed to high again and beat until icing is stiff, adding additional powdered sugar if needed. Add desired food colorings (optional).

Bakeat350 Sugar Cookies


2 more Bakeat350 Sugar cookies. I am so buying myself some meringue powder and studying up on royal icing and cookie decorating skills because i can make cookies but i cannot decorate for the life of me.. Its gonna happen. You will see!!!



Bakeat350 Sugar Cookies

So here are my awesome Halloween cookies for HALLOWEEN 2011. I ALWAYS use sweetsugarbelles recipe for my sugar cookies. Why? Because its the best. But then I started questioning myself. Is it "really" the best? Ive tried several other sugar cookies in the past and stopped when I discovered sugarbelles recipe because it was soooo good. I figured that there couldn't be a better sugar cookie recipe. But the Internet bloggers beg to differ. So I started doing a lot of online sugar cookie research. Verdict is. There are several sugar cookies that are so called "the BEST." Here's a list of the trendy blogger favorite:
bakeat350, ourbestbites and NFSC (which are the exact same and basically the same as bakeat350), Sweetsugarbelles, annie eats (which is similar to sugarbelles just 1/2 cup less powdered sugar- for who knows what reason, that cookie needs the full 1.5 cups powdered sugar,) sweetopia, peggy porschen, and iammommy. JUST TO NAME A FEW. And then there a lot of variations that stem from these recipes, like sweetapolita (similar to bakeat350). Anyways point is a lot of "best ever" sugar cookie recipes out there. And whats funny is Ive noticed that everyone who claims they have the best recipe hasn't tried the other ones. So my goal is to try all of these. I especially want to try Peggy Porschen. Whats unique about her recipe is that it doesn't have any baking soda or baking powder, because apparently leavening agents make for a puffier cookie that doesn't hold its shape as well. and leavening agents don't do anything for taste, so why have them in a cut-out cookie. This seems like a valid point to me, so I might start doing away w/ the Leavening agents(: So out of all of these interent popular sugar cookies I chose to 1st try bakeat350. mostly because it seems like anyone who tries it and then blogs about it has super pretty looking cookies come of it and also Bridget (owner of bakeat350 blog) has this one picture on her site of a sugar cookie that she made that makes you want to pull the cookie out of the commputer it just looks so perfect. Heres that picture...


That sugar cookie picture is my inspiration.. "sugar cookie perfection."
SO how did I like Bakeat350 sugar cookies and how did they compare to sugarbelles? The bakeat350 dough smelled amazing. Super buttery. I made sure to roll the dough like 3/8" thick. I only baked them 8 minutes because I wanted to make sure they were soft. I hate hard cookies. They baked up exactly how I expected them to. They tasted fabulous. Tasted a lot like the cookies from Provo Bakery... Shortbreadish like, I mean very buttery. But still not full on shortbread, because the recipe calls for one egg. Yet still that's less egg than most sugar cookie recipes out there. Do I like it better than sugarbelles? mmmm I say its 50:50. I like sugarbelles in that it uses powdered sugar which gives the cookie a unique tender texture (sort of melt in your mouth like). They're both super buttery they both have pretty much the same flour:butter:egg:sugar ratios. The pros on bakeat350 sugar cookie is that its definitely a sturdier cookie (meaning it wont break as easy). Sugarbelles recipe is pretty fragile, wouldn't be so good for shipping. I think I'll just have to stick with both recipes and use them according to circumstance(: But who knows, maybe peggy porshens cookie will win me over entirely, if that's even possible. these 2 cookies are both A-listers. OH, wait, so my momma just tried the cookies. she says she likes them better than sugarbelles... just to note. Oh, and FYI: I'll never go with a sugar cookie that has either cream cheese or sour cream in it, as a base ingredient. It can be in the frosting, but the cookie dough? bleh. It always makes them puffy and cardboardy gross tasting. Every gross sugar cookie ive either made or tasted had one of those 2 ingredients in the dough. Gross Gross. I go for just butter. "Butter is better!" Oh and another FYI: I dont like nor use Almond Extract. The few times in the past where I had put it in my cookies, my kids would say "they have a funny taste" or "these cookies taste weird" and then I though, "ya your right they do, its cuz of that gross almond stuff" so out went the almond extract. and i'm so glad its gone.

Bakeat350 Sugar Cookies
3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 c sugar (I use sugar that I've stored vanilla beans in)
2 sticks (salted) butter, cold
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Mix butter w/ sugar till creamy. Add egg baking powder and vanilla. Mix well. Gradually add flour. Mix Well. Wrap dough in cling wrap. Chill 1 hour. Roll out on LIGHTLY floured surface 3/8" thick. Cut into shaped. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 8 min at 350. Frost and decorate as desired. (I used Basic Buttercream Icing.)





Saturday, October 15, 2011

Buckeye Cookies


I'm from Cincinnati OHIO. And when I moved out to Utah it took a while to figure out what was strictly "eastern talk," in other words, "Utah-unfamiliar vocabulary" and visa versa. For instance, you don't say "oh my heck" or "oh my gosh" out in Cincinnati. They don't know what "heck" and "gosh" mean. So that was one thing nice about moving out here. I got several new Mormon expressive phrases added to my vocabulary. So when I started talking about buckeye cookies when I 1st moved here, no one knew what I was talking about. Not only did they not know what a buckeye cookie was, they didn't even know what buckeyes were. So THIS is what a buckeye is.
buckeye-tree-nut-lg
And HERE is a buckeye cookie.
When we were little we would go on nature hikes and collect buckeyes. There are a lot of trees and woods and forests in Cincinnati, everywhere. Everyone's back yard has a ton of trees- One thing I really miss about Ohio. So in tribute to the Ohio Buckeye, A lot of Cincinnati-ins make these buckeye cookies. They're super good, and super easy. They Taste like a Reese's, actually better than a Reese's. Ive made them ever since I was little and your supposed to dip just 1/2 of the cookie in chocolate, but early on I started dipping the whole cookie in chocolate. The more chocolate the better. Sometimes I use just milk chocolate sometimes I use just white chocolate, sometimes I use both white and milk chocolate. Tonight I used BOTH

Buckeye Cookies
(original recipe: HERE)

3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2.5 cups powdered sugar
3 cups white and milk chocolate chips
Crisco

With electric mixer, mix butter, peanut butter, and vanilla on high speed until completely/ thoroughly mixed. Gradually mix in 2.5 cups powdered sugar till dough comes together. Roll dough into walnut size balls and place on plate in freezer for at least 1 hour. Melt chocolate over double boiler. (If you don't have a double boiler, melt chocolate in microwave w/ Tablespoon Crisco. 30 second intervals till smooth and melted. Dip buckeyes into melted chocolate. Store buckeyes in fridge or freezer.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Sopapilla Cheesecake


Sopapilla Cheesecake
original recipe here

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
1 bar cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

In a mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar & vanilla, set aside. Open the crescent rolls & slowly unroll the rectangle of dough & divide it into 2 square pieces, taking care not to seperate the individual crescent rolls as you do so. With a rolling pin, shape the 2 square pieces to fit into a glass, buttered 9x9 pan. Place 1 square into the bottom of the pan, spread the cream cheese mixture over top & then place the remaining square of dough on top. In a smaller bowl, mix together 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar & 1 tsp cinnamon. Spread evenly over top of sopapilla. Bake at 350 25-30 min or until golden. Remove from oven. Let cool in the pan before serving. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Jiffy Pizza

I like Jiffy crust mix more than Pillsbury refrigerated dough. Jiffy dough is bready, and chewy whereas Pillsbury dough isn't so bready; its more cardboardy and preservativey. I still think Pillsbury pizza dough is good, just not as good as Jiffy. I throw this pizza together quite often because its easy, fast, so cheap, and you almost always have these ingredients at home(at least we do). The Velveeta was at one point just an after though (from a left over box of mac & cheese) but it adds this buttery fried taste. Its good without the Velveeta but its absolutely amazing times 1 million with the Velveeta, so you decide.


Jiffy Pizza

1 jiffy pizza crust mix
8 oz pizza sauce
Velveeta cheese
shredded italian cheese blend
thinly sliced deli Ham
Ranch

Mix pizza dough according to pkg directions. Knead dough. Let dough Rise 5 min. Place/spread dough into buttered 9x9" glass casserole dish. Bake 3-5 min at 375. Top slightly baked crust with pizza sauce, several dallops of velveeta, italian cheese, and ham. Bake 18-22 more min at 375. Cut into squares. Dip in Ranch(:



Halloween Crispy Treats




Ive been wanting to make candy corn crispy treats for a while, but I wasn't sure what recipe to use. The one on Brachs site is similar to my recipe except it calls for chocolate chips, so the crispy treats turn out brownish in color. Taste wise, chocolate chips sound good, but color wise, not so much. So I decided to incorporate the chocolate chip idea, but use white chocolate instead. Then I found another site called itsybitsyfoodies that has a recipe very similar to my recipe however it doesn't use any chocolate chips whatsoever however the crispy treats call for marshmallow creme in addition to the marshmallows which I thought sounded like a fabulous idea. So I combined my favorite aspects of both recipes and came up with my recipe, which I believe couldn't look/taste more perfect. Also, I use a 9x9 pan which makes my crispy treats extra thick kind of like the ones at thecrispery.com.








Halloween Crispy Treats
6T butter
6 cups Rice Crispy cereal
1 cup white chocolate chips
4 spoonfulls marshmallow fluff
1 cup mellowcreme pumpkins
Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting

In large saucepan, Melt butter on low heat until almost melted. Stir in marshmallows, stir continuously on low heat until butter and marshmallows are completely melted. Remove pan from heat and immediately stir in cereal, until evenely combined. Quickly Stir in white chocolate and transfer mixture into buttered 9x9 glass square dish. Press down. Press globs of marshmallow fluff evenly scattered over top of crispy treats. Press in 1 cups worth mellowcreme pumpkins. Cut into 9 large squares. Frost top of each square with Pillsbury vanilla frosting