I made these cookies for the first time today and they are so good.  They are another cookie from-come on, guess-King Arthur Flour!  I'll bet you didn't see that coming.  I made their Gingerbread cookies last year and while they were good, the flavor was just a bit strong for me.  If you feel the same way about gingerbread cookies, you're gonna love these.  Another beauty about these, all the ingredients can be found at your local grocery store!


They kind of remind me of the Chai Spice cookies my sister made last year for Christmas.  Kind of intriguing when you first bite into them and then they really grow on you.  They are a cutout cookie so you will need to refrigerate the dough, roll it out and then cut it into the desired shape using cookie cutters.  If you're not big on holiday cutouts and want something a bit more formal, I would suggest using a fluted square or round biscuit cutter.  Now on to the recipe!

light spice holiday cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice or ground cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

• directions

  1) In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, shortening, sugars, baking powder, spices, and salt until light and fluffy.

  2) Add the egg and molasses, and beat well.

  3) Mix about half of the flour into the butter mixture. When well combined, add the cornstarch and the remaining flour.  The mixture will seem kind of shaggy, but just keep mixing until it comes together real well.

  4) Divide the dough in half, flattening each half slightly to make a disk. Smooth the edges by rolling the disk along a lightly floured work surface. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour (or longer), for easiest rolling.

  5) Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  6) Take one piece of dough out of the refrigerator, and flour a clean work surface, and the dough.

  7) Roll it out as thin or thick as you like. For slightly less crisp cookies, roll it out more thickly. We like to roll these cookies 1/8" to 1/4"inch thick. Use flour under and on top of the dough to keep it from sticking to the table or rolling pin.

  8) Alternatively, place the dough on parchment, and put a sheet of plastic wrap or another piece of parchment over it as you roll, pulling the plastic or parchment to eliminate wrinkles as necessary when rolling; this will keep dough from sticking without the need for additional flour.

  9) Transfer the cookies to ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheets.

  10) Bake them just until they're slightly brown around the edges, or until they feel firm, about 10 to 12 minutes.

  11) Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, or until they're set. Transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

  Yield: 3 to 4 dozen 2 1/2" to 3" cookies.

  For cutouts during the holiday season, I will make several batches and freeze them.  When I'm ready to decorate with royal frosting, I'll take them out and defrost before decorating them.  Enjoy!

Key Lime Sparkler Cookies

Here's another great cookie recipe I found on King Arthur Flour.  This is how they describe them:  Mouth-puckeringly tart and satisfyingly sweet, these crunchy, sugar coated cookies will become a family favorite.  You might be thinking, isn't that a more summer-type cookie?  Actually it's a great year-round cookie, but when I found it on KAF's site, they were touting it as an alternative Holiday cookie.  This time of year you find a lot of chocolate and gingerbread cookies, but why not slip in one of these snowy and tart cookies to brighten things up?

This recipe does call for a few items that you probably won't have in your pantry.  These items are lime oil, sour salt (citric acid) or tart & sour flavor, and edible glitter.  You can find all of these items through King Arthur Flour.  The lime oil and edible glitter can probably be found at your local cake store or Michael's.  You might even find it at a Williams-Sonoma.  I did a quick search on the sour salt and they have it available at Williams-Sonoma as part of their new spice collection.  It's also available on several spice sites.

One thing I love about these cookies is that they freeze real well, so it's very convenient for this time of year.  Now on to the recipe:

Cookies
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons Key Lime Juice
1/8 teaspoon lime oil
1/8 teaspoon sour salt (citric acid)* OR 1/2 teaspoon Tart & Sour Flavor
1 large egg 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Coating
1/8 teaspoon sour salt (citric acid*)
1 cup glazing sugar or confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons white edible glitter (optional)

*Sour salt (citric acid) is what gives the cookies their sour bite—if you want less tang, use just a pinch.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, and baking powder till well blended. Beat in the lime juice, lime oil, sour salt (citric acid), and the egg. Blend in the flour thoroughly. 

Roll the dough into 1" balls, and place them on lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake the cookies in the top third of a preheated 350°F oven for 14 to 16 minutes, until the cookies are browned on the bottom. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a rack.

Mix together the sugar coating ingredients in a pan or bag. Gently shake and roll the still slightly warm cookies in the sugar till coated. Allow the cookies to cool completely, then repeat, coating again with the sugar. (If you're freezing the cookies, you may choose to recoat the cookies in sugar once they've been removed from the freezer, before serving.)

Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

To scoop the cookies, I use the small scoop from Pampered Chef.  You bake them until the bottoms are slightly brown.  Watch them carefully because it can sneak up on you.  I would recommend you mix up the powder sugar coating as soon as you put them in the oven.  They cool down pretty quickly and you want to do that first coating when they are slightly warm.  Not too warm or it will become a gummy mess.  If I'm going to freeze them, I do one coating of the powdered sugar mixture and then freeze them in an airtight container.  I keep the left over sugar mixture in an airtight container until it's needed again.  You'll want to separate the layers of cookies with parchment paper.  When you're ready to serve, defrost and do one more coating of the sugar mixture.  

My sour salt is in a medium to large grain so when I mix it with the powdered sugar, I crush it a little bit first so it distributes nicely.  Also, you might be saying, what the heck is edible glitter?  It is flavorless and adds a beautiful touch to your baked goods.  I like to sprinkle some on top of the icing on cupcakes.  Gives it a nice sparkle.  When it first came out, it was on available in white (more like clear).  Now it not only comes in different colors, they are making it into shapes i.e. trees, hearts and stars!  I get mine at Michael's but a good cake shop should have it also.  If not, you can order it though KAF.  The recipe calls for white, but I do a combination of either white and green edible glitter or white edible glitter and green sanding sugar.  Combine all the ingredients for the powdered sugar mixture well and then add the edible glitter.  If stirred too much, it does tend to break down into smaller pieces and loses it's sparkle.  Enjoy!

Vanilla Dreams and Swedish Dreams

I found the Vanilla Dreams recipe on the King Arthur Flour web site and the Swedish Dreams on the community page of the same site.  I've been including these in my holiday baking for several years now.  They are incredibly easy to make and I've been making them in advance this year and freezing them.  Both utilize a little known ingredient found more in Europe than here.  I buy mine from KAF and this is how they describe it:

Baker’s ammonia (ammonium carbonate) is a classic leavener, called for in your grandmother’s or great-grandmother's recipes.

• Baker's Ammonia (ammonium carbonate) makes extra-crisp cookies or crackers.
• Use in old-fashioned recipes calling for it (or for hartshorn).
• Yes, it has a very strong smell when baking; don't worry, it totally dissipates by the time the cookies are done.

The Swedish Dreams are a variation on the vanilla dreams by replacing 1 tsp. of the vanilla extract with either orange or lemon extract.  I use Fiori di Sicilia in mine and it smells like heaven in my kitchen whenever I use it in my baking.  It's another item I get from KAF and here is it's description:

Here at The Baker's Catalogue, we have to restrain ourselves from using Fiori di Sicilia in EVERYTHING! We think it's second only to vanilla, as far as flavorful multi-tasking goes.

• A Baker’s Catalogue exclusive!
• A combination of citrus and vanilla with a pleasingly floral aroma.
• Use about 1/2 teaspoon in a typical recipe for cookies, pound cake, pie, meringues, sweet bread, etc.
• Italians use Fiori di Sicilia ("flowers of Sicily") to scent their panettone and pandoro.
• For best freshness, refrigerate after opening. And caution, don't spill it on the counter, please – it stains.
• TEST KITCHEN TIP: You know that wonderful marriage of flavors you taste when you combine vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet in the same bowl? That’s what Fiori di Sicilia tastes like. We find that using it in just about anything mild and sweet–anything where competing flavors, like chocolate, don’t interfere–adds a wonderfully mysterious taste. Your friends will be guessing just what you’ve done to your sugar cookies or yellow cake or sweet bread to make them taste SO good!

I also use this in my homemade Angel Food Cake and it is devine!  Now on to the recipes!

Vanilla Dreams Cookies

  

Ingredients:

·       1 1/4 cups sugar

·       1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

·       3/4-1 tsp. salt*   

·       2-3 tsp. vanilla   

·       2 cups flour        

·       1/2 tsp. baker’s ammonia or 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

·       coarse sparkling sugar for coating

·       *If you use salted butter, reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.  Place sparkling sugar in a bowl. 

    In a mixer, beat together the sugar, butter, salt,  and vanilla extract. Add the flour and baker's ammonia, and beat until the dough comes together, scraping the bowl once; it'll seem quite dry at first, but keep beating, eventually it'll become chunky and cohesive.

    Scoop the dough by teaspoonfuls (a teaspoon cookie scoop works wonderfully well here) into the bowl of sparkling sugar. Roll the dough balls in the sugar to coat.

Put them on the prepared baking sheets, and use the bottom of a glass, dipped in sugar if necessary to prevent sticking, to flatten the balls to about 1/4" thick. 

    Bake the cookies for about 20 to 25 minutes, until they're a very light golden brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

Servings:  4 doz. cookies

Swedish Dreams Cookies

  

Ingredients:

·       1 cup (7 ounces) sugar         

·       2 sticks unsalted butter

·       1 tsp. salt*

·       2 tsp. vanilla extract    

·       1 tsp. orange, lemon or Fiori di Sicilia extract, optional    

·       2 cups (8 1/2 oz.) flour

·       1/2 tsp. baker's ammonia      

·       coarse sparkling sugar, for topping

·       *If you use salted butter, reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp.

Directions:

    Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.  Place sparkling sugar in a bowl. 

    In a mixer, beat together the sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, and orange or lemon extract. Add the flour and baker's ammonia, and beat until the dough comes together, scraping the bowl once; it'll seem quite dry at first, but keep beating, eventually it'll become chunky and cohesive.

    Scoop the dough by teaspoonfuls (a teaspoon cookie scoop works wonderfully well here) into the bowl of sparkling sugar. Roll the dough balls in the sugar to coat.

    Put them on the prepared baking sheets, and use the bottom of a glass, dipped in sugar if necessary to prevent sticking, to flatten the balls to about 1/4" thick. 

    Bake the cookies for about 20 to 25 minutes, until they're a very light golden brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

Servings:  4 doz. cookies

To flatten the cookies, I use the plunger from my Cuisinart food processor.  It gives the cookies a pretty swirl design.  When I do the Vanilla Dreams I use white sparkling sugar and for the Swedish Dreams, orange sparkling sugar to tell the different flavors apart.  Sparkling sugar is a larger grain of sugar than sanding sugar and doesn't melt in the baking process.  It also gives a nice crunch to your baked items.

If you are going to store or freeze them, store the two flavors apart to keep the orange flavor from being absorbed into the vanilla ones.  Enjoy!

All About Vanilla!

As those of you who know me well have experienced, I do tend to ramble on a bit about baking.  One of the things I like to tell people about is genuine, high quality vanilla and the difference it will make in your baking.  I found this article on the King Arthur Flour site and on the back of the vanilla sampler from Nielsen-Massey I picked up today from Williams-Sonoma.  And, I thought I would share it with you all:

Vanilla, one of our favorite baking flavors, is anything but plain. Vanilla’s exotic yet comforting combination of floral and spice is sought after by cooks worldwide. Pure vanilla (synthetic versions just don’t compare) is derived from the vanilla bean, fruit of an orchid plant.  Vanilla originated in Mexico and was brought to Europe about 1520 by the explorer Cortez.

Today, most of the world’s vanilla comes from Madagascar and the surrounding Bourbon Islands, off the coast of Africa. Smooth, mellow Madagascar Bourbon vanilla is an all-purpose vanilla, ideal in everything from cookies and sticky buns to cake and ice cream. It is considered to be the highest quality pure vanilla available.  It takes the name "Bourbon" not from Kentucky Whiskey, but from the French Bourbon court that ruled Madagascar in the 1800's.  Mexican vanilla, derived from a thicker and darker bean, has a stronger, spicier taste. It pairs well with cinnamon and other assertive flavors.  Beware of vanillas claiming to be from Mexico.  You want to buy only from a reputable dealer of Mexican vanilla as they have found arsenic in quite a few and many that were advertised as genuine were in fact imitation vanilla.  Tahitian vanilla is less intensely flavored but known for it's aromatic, fruity, cherry-like flavor and ideal for light, fruit-based desserts and sauces.  This is a favorite of pastry chefs and performs best when used in low or no-heat applications as it's delicate flavor can become weakened in the presence of high heat.  Also ideal for refrigerated and frozen treats, cream fillings, smoothies and shakes.

While pure vanilla extract is familiar to bakers everywhere, vanilla comes in other forms as well, including vanilla paste, a thickened vanilla extract; and vanilla bean crush, an extract with crushed pods and seeds, which makes elegant-looking ice cream, whipped cream, and frosting, with its dark flecks of bean.

Seeds scraped from the interior of soft whole vanilla beans impart pleasingly strong flavor when steeped in custard, milk, cream, or syrup. Vanilla powder, made by grinding dried whole beans, offers robust flavor in hot drinks. And delicately infused vanilla sugar is a distinctive condiment.

Martha Stewart's Basic Shortbread

I love shortbread, but for some odd reason I have never baked any until recently.  But I have to admit that only until a few years ago, I just wasn't that big on cookies, period.  As I've said before, I give credit to my new love of baking cookies to King Arthur Flour.  I think what helps is not just their pictures but of the descriptions of them, their taste and their texture.  More cookbooks need to include the author's personal experience and history with that recipe.  That's what gets me excited to try it.  Sometimes I am rewarded, and rarely it falls flat.  But that's the way the cookie crumbles (insert groans here).


Anyways, back to the shortbread.  This past weekend I made Martha's shortbread which I saw on one of her shows.  The unique thing about shortbread is if you store it right, it actually gets better!  Store it in an airtight container and it will last for 30 days.  This recipe hasn't had a chance to last 30 days as I took them to my daughter's softball tournament and shared them with the parents and the girls.  Hey, if I can keep pushing my baked goods on other people, my hubby doesn't mind me making all this stuff because then it's not sitting around the house tempting him.  Ya baby, I'm your pusher, baby!  This recipe is very easy and very tasty.  I want to try it dipped in chocolate next.  Here you go:

Martha Stewart’s Basic Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

·       1 1/3 cups (2 sticks plus 6 tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans

·       2/3 cup sugar

·       3/4 tsp. salt

·       3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

·       3 1/3 cups flour

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 275º. Butter a 9x13x1" baking pan, and line bottom with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add salt and vanilla, and beat to combine. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, beating on low speed until just combined.

    Press dough into prepared pan, leveling and smoothing the top. Using a dough scraper or the back of a knife, cut dough lengthwise into nine strips, each slightly less than 1 inch wide. Cut the strips crosswise into 4 strips creating 36 3" bars. Using the tines of a fork or a wooden skewer, create a decorative pattern on the surface.

Bake shortbread until evenly pale golden, but not browned, 70 to 85 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool slightly, around 5 minutes. Invert pan, and remove parchment. Turn shortbread over, and carefully break, or cut with a serrated knife, into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Servings:  36 bars

These are quite simple to make and store.  You can even freeze them if you want to make extra and need them to keep for more than 30 days.  If you want to make them fancier, you can dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate and allow to cool on wax or parchment paper.  Or you can finely chop pistachios, almonds or pecans and roll the chocolate covered cookie in the nuts.  Get creative and enjoy!

King Arthur Flour's Cheddar, Bacon and Scallion Scones

I recently attended two free demos from King Arthur Flour.  I was so excited because this was the first time they had come to Southern Nevada.  For those who think emails don't work, I am here to say yes they do, just be patient because I had been emailing KAF for years to come to Vegas.  I learned so much and even made a new friend!  That reminds me, I gotta email her about the second class.  Sorry, I'm drifting.  Anyways, one of the recipes they made were these scones which are beautiful.  I had seen the recipe on the KAF website before and had been meaning to try them and this was the incentive.

They will be perfect for the holiday season because you can make them up, freeze them and then bake directly from the freezer.  And Susan Reid, who conducted the demo, says they are better that way!  Have out of town guests?  Make these a few days before (or longer) and then simply pop them out of the freezer and bake.  No getting up early to slave away making breakfast.  Matter of fact, that's exactly what I did the other day.  We had our annual Halloween party and my daughter always has a few friends stay the night.  I usually try to make breakfast for them and these were one of the items.  Now on to the recipe:

Unbaked scone ready to freeze

King Arthur Flour’s Cheddar, Bacon and Scallion Scones

Ingredients:

·       2 cups (8 1/2 oz.) flour

·       1/2 tsp. salt

·       1 tbsp. baking powder

·       1 tsp. sugar

·       4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

·       1 cup (4 oz.) very coarsely grated or diced sharp cheddar cheese

·       1/2 cup (about 1 oz.) finely diced scallion tops (green part)

·       1/2 lb. bacon, cooked, cooled and crumbled (about 1 cup)

·       3/4-1 cup (6-8 oz.) heavy cream or milk, enough to make dough cohesive plus more for brushing onto scones

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 425º.  Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment.

    Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. 

    Work the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly. 

    Work in the cheese, scallions and bacon till evenly distributed.

    Add 3/4 cup of the cream, stirring to combine just until it comes together.  Try squeezing the dough together; it it’s crumbly and won’t hang together, or if there are crumbs remaining in the bottom of the bowl, add cream until the dough comes together.  Transfer the shaggy dough to a well-floured surface.

    Pat the dough into a smooth 7" disk about 3/4" thick.  Transfer the disk to the prepared baking sheet.

    Use a knife or bench knife to cut the disk into 8 wedges, spreading the wedges part a bit on the pan.  Brush the scones with a bit of extra cream; this will help their crust brown.

    Bake the scones for 22-24 minutes, until they’re golden brown.  Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan.  Serve warm, or at room temperature.

    Note:  You can freeze the scones after shaping and cutting.  When ready to bake, take the scones out of the freezer and place onto baking sheet and bake. 

Servings:  8 large scones

The recipe originally calls for cheddar cheese, but I used sharp because I wanted it to be equal in flavor to the bacon and scallions (or green onions).  You can use whatever kind you like, just depends on preference.  It also calls for cooking the bacon, cooling and then crumbling it.  You can do that also, but I have found that cutting the bacon up and then frying it seems faster.  They also drain better and cool down faster.  Again, it's preference.  If you find that you have difficulty cutting up the bacon here are two tips:  Make sure your knife is honed and sharp and freeze the bacon a bit before cutting.  Will go much easier if you do those two things.  

If you don't have unsalted butter you can use regular salted, just reduce the salt in the recipe by 1/8th tsp.  Every salted stick of butter has 1/4 tsp. of salt.  In this recipe we are only using 1/2 of a stick therefore, reduce by 1/8th.  Honestly, I always keep unsalted butter in my fridge, just not in large quantities.  The reason is that as butter sits in the fridge, it can absorb flavors from other foods in there.  The salt in the salted varieties hides that flavor so you can keep it in larger quantities.  Unsalted doesn't have that benefit so it can develop a odd flavor.  But I believe it's better because it helps you control the salt in your recipe and it gives a unique flavor.  

If you are making the scones ahead of time, do not brush them with the cream before freezing.  I placed them on a cookie sheet and covered well with plastic wrap and then froze them.  Once they were completely frozen, I placed them in a freezer safe container with the stacks separated with parchment paper.  You can bake them directly from the freezer at 425 degrees, but I chose to bake them on convection so I reduced it by 25 degrees to 400. Now normally when baking on convection mode you also reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes, but since they were frozen it actually came out about the same.  I did turn the pan half way through baking. But watch them because every oven is different.

When working the butter into the flour, you can use a pastry blender.  In the demo, she used one initially and then worked it in a bit more with her hands.  In a way she was incorporating the laminated technique in a much smaller way.  Laminated is when you are rolling butter into between pastry as in croissants or between flour as in pie crusts.  You are creating a layer of butter that is encased with flour/pastry.  When it bakes, the moisture from the butter evaporates pushing those layers apart therefore creating a crust.  The flavor of the butter is left behind but with little or next to no moisture.  This will create a flakier scone. By the way, did you know that in spite of the spelling they really are pronounced scawns?  

We had a good little laugh in the demo when Susan was stirring the cream into the dough.  We here in Vegas have a tricky little thing we deal with, no moisture.  When we joke about a "dry" heat, we ain't kidding.  For my baking recipes I consistently have to add 2 tbsp. to 1/4 cup more moisture, which is why I have adjusted the recipe to 3/4-1 cup cream because it really depends on how dry it is that day.  Another little trick she taught us?  Use a spray bottle with water.  You know when you dump that biscuit, pie or scone dough onto the counter and you have some areas that have just enough moisture but some are more dry and shaggy?  Just give those areas a little squirt and you're not water logging the perfect areas!  That is major for us desert people!

When I mention to not overwork the dough, that is a common mistake with scones and biscuits.  When you work the dough you are forming gluten strands.  That's ok for breads, but not so much with flaky pastries.  Just work it until comes together, no more!

Don't mean to overwhelm you all with details, but I feel it's better to be armed and ready when those uh-oh's happen as they almost always do when trying out a new recipe.  Enjoy!