January, 2012

  1. Dog Chocolate Chip Cookies

    January 19, 2012 by Mike

    dog_plate

    For the last two days, the Northwest has been hit hard with snow storms.  I have been stranded at home in Seattle due to icy road conditions and I’m getting a little stir-crazy!  I’m not complaining too much, though.  With my time in isolation I was able to clean all of the house, do all my laundry, and finish this batch of cookies.

    Remember the chocolate chip cookie dough I mentioned before?  I used it for this batch and the results were fantastic!

    I was a little concerned at first because I had difficulty cutting out custom shapes while carving around the chocolate chips, but I managed.  Also, the cookies seemed to crack on me and I was worried they were too fragile to decorate.  Fortunately, after leaving them out overnight the cookies hardened enough to handle and I was able to work with them.

    Now, you might say, “Cute dogs cookies! Who are they?”   Well let me introduce you…

    This is my dog, Indy.  He’s a rat terrier mix found wandering the streets of Indiana (hence his name). He was just skin and bones when I rescued him.

    He has since filled out nicely and is so cute that I just want to eat him up!  AND now I literally can!  I think his ears are his best feature and I tend to bite into them first.

    This is my brother’s dog (or “nephew” as I like to say), Toby.  He has the most expressive eyebrows and I love his purple nose.

    He’s the most kind, playful pit bull I know and I felt he should be on a cookie, too.

    These dog cookies were the most challenging batch of cookies to decorate yet. I had wanted to do an animal theme for quite some time but wasn’t sure of what.  When I came up with the idea to do the family dogs I wanted the cookies to really resemble them.  I made sure to be patient with the details as I was decorating and I’m very pleased on how they came out.

    Category: Cookies
    Tags: , , , ,
    2 Comments

  2. Chocolate Chip Cookie Roll-out Recipe

    January 16, 2012 by Mike

    choc_chip_dough

    Chocolate chip is, by far, my favorite kind of cookie and I was excited to find a recipe for a delicious, roll-out version.

    (By the way, for those new to cookie-baking, when I mention a “roll-out recipe” I’m talking about a cookie recipe that is great for decorating because it (a) easily rolls out flat when using a rolling pin and remains flat after baking, and (b) keeps its cutout shape well after baking, too. On contrary, a “drop cookie” recipe is what I would consider the opposite. That’s when you bake spoonful-sized balls of dough and the resulting cookie is kind of puffy and round after baking. Just FYI.)

    Ingredients

    • 1 c. unsalted butter
    • 1/3 c. granulated sugar
    • 1/2 c. packed light-brown sugar
    • 1 large egg yolk
    • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
    • 1/2 tsp. salt
    • 2 c. all-purpose flour
    • 1 c. mini chocolate chips

    Instructions

    1. Cream together butter, both sugars, and salt in a mixer.
    2. Add vanilla and egg yolk and beat until mixed well.
    3. Add flour one cup at a time until incorporated.
    4. By hand, fold in the mini chocolate chips.
    5. Roll to 1/4 inch thickness and chill before cutting into shapes.
    6. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes. Remove from the oven before the first indication of the edges turning brown.

    Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

    A few things to note.

    The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips, which I followed, but I think that is 1/2 cup too many. You can see from the pictures that there are A LOT of chips in that dough. Now, I love chocolate but that many chips made the dough too fragile. I changed the written recipe to only add 1 cup of chips (it is my reminder for next time).

    Because this recipe has chocolate chips, I recommend a sturdy cookie cutter to cut through those tough chunks. For this batch, I also carved out custom cookie shapes with a parrying knife but I found it to be quite difficult. If you are thinking about using custom cookie shapes that involve cutting them out by hand I would not recommend this type of dough.

    This batch is for some upcoming cookies I’m making that I will be posting about next. I think you can probably guess what the theme might be based on the cookie cutter pictured above. Be sure to check back soon.

    Category: Recipes, Roll-out Dough

    10 Comments

  3. Sock Monkey Cookies and Custom Templates

    January 14, 2012 by Mike

    sock_monkeys

    Have you ever wanted to make a cookie design but didn’t have the right cookie cutter available to do it? No problem! You can easily make a template on your own. I’ve seen others make custom templates out of anything sturdy but easy to cut like manila folders, cardboard, or recycled plastic lids. What I found that really works for me is quilting clear template plastic.

    You can find template plastic in crafts stores that have a fabric or quilting section. I found this pack at Joann Fabrics. It’s great for cookies because it is:

    • sturdy (thicker than projector transparencies used back in elementary school) but still easy to cut with scissors.
    • clear enough to easily trace any image onto it.
    • reusable and washable. (paper templates like manila folders and cardboard don’t hold up well to buttery cookie dough)

    Just find any image, trace it onto the template plastic using a permanent marker, and cut out the trace with scissors. Once cut out, place that template on your rolled out dough and cut the dough around the edges of the template using a sharp parring knife.

    Here are some examples:

    Do you remember my timid ninja cookies? This is how I made them. I printed out the images my brother supplied me on paper. Then I traced images onto the plastic and cut them out with scissors . I also cut out a smaller template for the face to get the exact shape. I used a food coloring marker to mark the face outline onto the cookie so I didn’t have to do the face shape free-hand.

    This sock monkey cookie cutter caught my eye online but I thought the price tag was a little steep. I decided to sketch my own instead. I first determined the size of cookie I wanted and sketched a side profile of the sock monkey. I folded the paper in half and drew guide lines to help get a symmetric shape. Once I got a shape I was pleased with, I traced the pattern onto the template plastic. Here’s the finished cookie!

    What’s great about these templates is that you can used them over and over again. I store all mine in plastic sleeves, along with the paper image, inside a 3-ring binder for safe keeping.

    Category: Cookies, Decorating Tips
    Tags: , ,
    2 Comments

  4. Royal Icing Recipe

    January 13, 2012 by Mike

    royal_icing_stiff_peak

    Since I last posted about the sugar cookie recipe I use most often, I think I should mention how I make my royal icing.  There’s nothing really unique about this recipe (many royal icing recipes I find online use the same general ingredients with just a few minor tweaks).  Here is the recipe that works for me.

    Ingredients

    • 1/2 c. warm water
    • 2 1/2 tbsp. meringue powder
    • 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
    • 1 lbs. powdered sugar

    Instructions

    1. In a bowl, add water and meringue powder and hand whisk until it’s foamy.
    2. Add cream of tartar to the bowl mixture and whisk until incorporated.
    3. Add the bowl mixture and powdered sugar to a mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat the batch until stiff peaks form like the picture at the top of the post. (about 10 mins.)

    Makes a small batch to decorate a dozen cookies. I usually double this recipe.

    Tips:


    This may just be a personal preference, but I like the taste of the Williams-Sonoma brand (the brown labeled canister in the picture) of meringue powder over the Wilton brand, which you can find easily in stores.  It’s a subtle but noticeable difference- kind of like Hershey’s chocolate verses Ghirardelli chocolate.

    Optional ingredients:


    Light corn syrup- Adding this to the mix makes the icing have a little shine instead of a matte finish.  I’ll add corn syrup if I know I’ll be using the royal icing that same day.  If I make the royal icing ahead of time, I won’t add it to my mix.  I think it makes the icing separate more easily if the icing with corn syrup sits for a few days.

    Clear Vanilla extract- You can add a little vanilla (or any other flavoring) extract to the icing for added taste.  Be sure to only add the type labeled, “CLEAR.”  If you add any flavoring that has color it will tint your icing.

    Prepping the Royal Icing for Decorating:

    The key to decorating cookies with royal icing is consistency.  Getting the right consistency takes some practice, but when it is right it will save you a lot of frustration.

    Piping:


    After getting the stiff-peak consistency from the mixer it’s not quite ready for piping.  Add a few 1/2 teaspoons of water at a time  (I like using a spray bottle filled with water instead of measuring spoons- very convenient) until you get the consistency of pudding.  It doesn’t take much water to get there.  If the icing is too stiff the outlines will break on you or the icing won’t flow easily out of the tip.

    Flooding:


    Flood icing is what you fill space with after you outline a cookie with piping icing.  Add a little bit more water until the consistency is like maple syrup or honey.  Be careful not to make it too watered-down or  it will run and spread out of control on your cookie.

    Category: Recipes, Royal Icing

    2 Comments

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