All posts for the month August, 2012

Homemade Funfetti Sandwich Cookies

I have to say, I am glad summer is almost over. It has been so crazy hot here in Chicago, it was really hard to do anything outdoors.  With the end of summer, of course, comes the kids going back to school.  My daughter Sammie was excited to start kindergarten (okay, excited to ride the bus) and my son Jack, just started 2nd grade.  Jack is not a big fan of hot lunch, probably because he is so darn picky.  Since he won’t eat most of what I make, he sure isn’t going to eat cafeteria food.  So, Jack brings the same plain old turkey sandwich (no cheese, can this really be my son?) everyday, a bag of chips and a dessert. When I saw these cookies on Pink Parsley, I knew it would be a fun dessert that he would love and maybe for a second, know that I was thinking of him as he ate it.

The dough is like the usual sugar cookie recipe, but the addition of cake flour makes these cookies a bit softer.  The dough is pretty sticky, so you’ll have to allow at least one half hour of refrigeration before scooping and baking the cookies.  Once the cookies cool, you make a delicious butter cream that you can either spread on with a knife or pipe on.  Personally, I find piping to be much easier and it’s prettier too. When Jack got home from school, he couldn’t wait until tomorrow. He just had to try a cookie now. I think I counted a dozen Mmmms before I stopped counting.  And, I can’t forget my Sammie. She loved them too, especially the pink frosting.  Since she is in kindergarten, we get to have lunch together everyday, usually Rice-A-Roni at her request.  Well, besides her company, at least now I have dessert to look forward to.

Homemade Funfetti Sandwich Cookies

Yield: I got 48 cookies, 24 sandwiches

The cookie:

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened to room temperature

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp melted butter

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

2 cups cake flour

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup colored sprinkles

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle, cream the butter and the sugar on medium until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.  Add the vanilla, melted butter, whole egg and yolk. Mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.

Combine the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low until just combined.  Fold in the sprinkles with a spatula.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F.  Using a small cookie scoop, drop the dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart to allow for spreading. Bake 10-12 minutes (rotating the pans halfway through) until they are just starting to brown on the bottom and are barely firm on top.  Cool the cookies 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Slightly adapted from Pink Parsley, originally from Yammy’s Noshery

The frosting:

1 1/4 sticks (10 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted   I didn’t sift and it was fine

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp heavy cream

1/3 cup colored sprinkles  I omitted and chose to color the frosting pink instead

Food coloring  optional   I used Americolor Deep Pink

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter until creamy, about 2 minutes.  Add the sugar and beat on low until just combined and then increase the speed to medium for about 2 minutes.  Add the vanilla and heavy cream.  Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.  Stir in the sprinkles if using and/or the food coloring.

To assemble the cookies, match pairs based on size and shape before frosting.  Pipe or spread icing onto one half, then gently but firmly close the cookie.  Press lightly to spread the icing to the edges so it lo0ks pretty.  Store in an airtight container.

Source: Pink Parsley, originally from Cooks Illustrated.  Frosting color and piping with a star tip inspired by Gingerbread Bagel
2 Comments
by Just Baked on August 31, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Just Baked on August 31, 2012

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Strawberry Soda Ice Cream

This month for What’s Baking, the theme “Something that reminds you of your favorite place” was chosen by Joanna at Newlywed and Newly Cooking.  I couldn’t really think of a particular favorite place, but really, anywhere I am with my family is a favorite place. :D   This summer I went strawberry picking at Stade Farm with my daughter, my son, some of their friends and their moms.  It was a perfect day.  It wasn’t too hot, we filled our baskets with strawberries, and the kids (and moms) had a blast.  We love to eat strawberries, but no matter how quickly we eat them, they always go bad.  So, I made some strawberry frozen yogurt that night.  The next day they were looking like they were already starting to turn. I quickly washed them, cut all the leaves off- which took forever because they were tiny little berries, and I froze them to use another day.

When I made the Milky Way ice cream last week, I saw this recipe for strawberry soda ice cream, another prize winner.  I had the frozen strawberries, but I didn’t have any Big Red soda (or pop, whatever you like to call it).  In fact, I’ve never even heard of it.  I was able to find a big 2 liter bottle at Jewel. When I got home, I just had to try this crazy looking red cream soda.  I thought it tasted a bit like bubble gum, so I don’t think I would drink it straight up, but my son loved it.  This is a really easy ice cream to make, if your kids aren’t picky like mine.  You just mash the berries and whisk all the ingredients in a bowl.  But, because my kids don’t like fruit in their ice cream, nor seeds, I blended the mixture and ran it through a sieve.  Once you make the base, you just let the machine do the rest.  One taste of the sweet, pretty pink strawberry ice cream brought me right back to the perfect day we had at Stade Farm. Don’t you just love how food can do that?

Strawberry soda ice cream

1  14oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups half and half

3/4 cup red cream soda (Big Red) or regular cream soda

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 cup frozen strawberries, thawed and mashed

Whisk the condensed milk, half and half, red cream soda, whipping cream and mashed strawberries in a medium bowl.

I poured this mixture into my blender and ran it through a fine strainer.

Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.  I find it best to freeze ice cream containing condensed milk overnight to really get firm enough to hold its shape.

Source:  Food Network July/August 2012

7 Comments
by Just Baked on August 29, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Just Baked on August 29, 2012

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Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

Happy birthday to me! Ugh, another year closer to 40. :D   That’s okay, because it was a good one. My husband got up early with the baby so I could sleep in a bit.  When I woke up, Justin made me my favorite ATK buttermilk pancakes and bacon.  The kids colored me birthday cards, with Sammie’s all covered in pretty Disney princess stickers.  My husband had to coach a volleyball game tonight, so we are going to celebrate tomorrow with dinner and a movie. My sisters in law are awesome and are taking the kids for the night, so we can sleep in Saturday.   So, today I spent the day with the kids and I had to get some grading done before date night.

I didn’t have a lot of time to make a layer cake or cupcakes.  So, I decided to make a cake that makes its own sauce, this hot fudge pudding cake.  It’s kind of crazy in that you make the batter, put a thick (and I mean thick) cover of cocoa powder mixed with sugar over it, and then pour boiling water over that.  But, it’s an America’s Test Kitchen recipe, so I don’t question, I just do it.  So, you put your cake covered in boiling water in the oven and bake it.  It magically transforms, as all that liquid goes to the bottom and a cratered, cake forms on top.  When you scoop out the chocolate cake, there is a thick layer of hot fudge sauce underneath.  Make sure you get all that goo, as that is the best part.  Then, of course, you must add a scoop of ice cream to the warm cake.  Mmm..ice cream and cake, with my kids, at 3 in the afternoon, completely spoiling our dinner.  Now, that’s a happy birthday!

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

Yield: 8×8 cake

1 cup sugar, divided

1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder, divided

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup boiling water

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for serving

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position.  Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray an 8×8 metal or glass pan with cooking spray.  Whisk 1/2 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup of cocoa in a small bowl.

Whisk flour, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, remaining 1/4 cup of cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk milk, melted butter, egg yolk, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth.

Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture, just until combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips. The batter will be stiff.

Using a rubber spatula, scrape batter into the prepared pan and spread into the corners. Sprinkle the reserved cocoa mixture over the top.  Gently pour the boiling water over the cocoa.  Don’t stir.

Bake until the top of the cake looks cracked, sauce is bubbling, and a toothpick inserted into a cakey area comes out with moist crumbs attached, ~ 25 minutes.  Do not overcook, or the cake will be dry and lose its fudge sauce.  So, err on the side of under.  Cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes. To serve, scoop warm cake into individual bowls and top with ice cream or whipped cream.

Store leftovers, covered in plastic, in the fridge.  Reheat individual servings in the microwave.

Source:  Cook’s Country February/March 2007

13 Comments
by Just Baked on August 24, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Just Baked on August 24, 2012

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English Muffin Bread

English Muffin Bread

My husband isn’t a sweet breakfast sort of guy.  I mean if I make French toast or pancakes, he wouldn’t turn them down or anything.  But, he would much rather have a savory breakfast sandwich any day.  Justin’s first choice of bread for his sandwich would be a pretzel roll, with an English muffin as a close second.  But, it can’t be just any English muffin. Nope, it has to be Bays, definitely not a Thomas.  Now, I know I cannot be the only one who hates the Bays’ packaging.  If you remove a few muffins, you can roll the end of the package over to sort of seal it.  Or, you can do as I usually do and throw them all in a Ziploc bag.  I don’t know why, but this drives me so crazy every time I open a package! :D   Anyways, to surprise my husband, I wanted to try my hand at making homemade English muffins. But, then I saw this bread recipe.  Perfect. I get the same taste and texture of English muffins, while omitting the shaping and frying steps.

I, like many bakers, get a bit intimidated by yeast. But, I have gotten better with practice, a digital scale for flour and a thermometer to measure water temperature.  Looking at the recipe, it didn’t look too much harder than a quick bread, except you need to allot time for 2 rises.  It wasn’t hard at all.  Really. This is a great bread to tackle your fear of yeast!  The bread bakes up with a beautiful crispy crust, which envelopes the chewy interior of nooks and crannies, just waiting to be filled with melted butter.  I enjoyed my bread toasted with butter (real please) and some strawberry jelly.  My husband had his favorite egg, cheese and bacon breakfast sandwich and ate some more as toast.  I think he ate a whole loaf by himself.  It’s a good thing this recipe makes two!

English Muffin Bread

Yield:  2 loaves

Cornmeal  (for dusting)

5 cups (27 1/2 ounces) bread flour

4 1/2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups whole milk, heated to 120 degrees

Grease two 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan. Dust with cornmeal.  Combine flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and baking soda in large bowl. Stir in hot milk until combined, ~1 minute. Cover the dough with greased plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place for 30 minutes, or until dough is bubbly and has doubled.

Stir dough and divide between prepared loaf pans.  Push the dough into the corners with greased rubber spatula. The pans should be about two-thirds full. Cover the pans with greased plastic.  Let the dough rise in warm place until it reaches edge of pans, ~ 30 minutes. Adjust the oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

Discard plastic and put the pans in the oven. Bake until bread is well browned and registers 200 degrees, ~ 30 minutes, rotating and switching pans halfway through baking. Turn bread out onto wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Slice, toast, and serve.

Source: Cook’s Country April/May 2012

6 Comments
by Just Baked on August 22, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Just Baked on August 22, 2012

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Milky Way Ice Cream with Hot Fudge Sauce

I have a bit of an obsession with cooking magazines, subscribing to at least a dozen.  Besides Cook’s Country and Cook’s Illustrated, one of my favorites is the Food Network Magazine.  In the July/August edition, they featured winning recipes from Austin’s Annual Ice Cream Festival.  They all looked delicious with fun ingredients like cream soda, bacon, candy bars and cinnamon oil.  It was hard to choose which to make first.  Well, maybe not too hard since there was a chocolate ice cream in the bunch.  You know I had to start there.

My kids had stayed at their Gramma’s for the night and wouldn’t be home until dinnertime.  I thought I would surprise them with this chocolate ice cream made from Milky Way bars. Fun right?  You melt the Milky Ways down with condensed milk, adding milk and half and half to create the base.  Now the recipe says that chocolate syrup is optional.   But, adding more chocolate to a recipe should never be optional.  Add it. :D After churning the base in an ice cream maker, the texture reminds me of a Wendy’s Frosty.  It kind of tastes like one too, but with a hint of caramel.

This recipe uses only 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk.  Ugh. I hate to waste food. Although I would have loved to just eat it right from the can, I thought better of it, and decided to look for a recipe.  On the Eagle Brand website, I found a recipe for hot fudge sauce. I figured if I make half a recipe, I could use half a can of milk and have a delicious sauce for my ice cream. Perfect.

Now what kid wouldn’t want to come home to a big glass filled with Milky Way flavored ice cream, topped with hot fudge sauce and more Milky Way pieces on top?  I’m gonna go with none. :D

Milky Way Ice Cream

Yield: 1 quart

4 oz Milky Way candy bars, chopped   (two 2 oz bars)

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup whole milk

1 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup chocolate syrup  optional

Melt the candy bars and condensed milk in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. (Do not let the bowl touch the water).  Stir until smooth.  Remove the bowl from the saucepan.  Whisk in the milk, half-and-half and chocolate syrup. Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.  I ran my base through a sieve because I saw a few small pieces of unmelted nougat.

Churn the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer directions.  Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.  I found it really to take overnight for a firmer texture.

Source:  Food Network Magazine (Collin Hazlet)

Hot Fudge Sauce (this is 1/2 of the original recipe)

1/2 cup (3 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 (7 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk, butter and water in medium-sized heavy saucepan over medium heat. Beat smooth with wire whisk. Stir in vanilla.

Serve warm over ice cream or as fruit dipping sauce. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator; reheat to serve.

To Reheat: Combine desired amount of sauce with small amount of water in small heavy saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat until heated through.

Source:  Eagle Brand

10 Comments
by Just Baked on August 17, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Just Baked on August 17, 2012

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Flour Bakery’s Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite to bake because they are also my favorite to eat.  Though I will say, my kids and my husband can tear them up pretty good too.  :D I’m not sure how many different recipes I have tried, but it’s a lot.  I am always on the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.  So, I decided to try Flour Bakery’s chocolate chunk cookie because everything I’ve made so far has been delicious.  I have never used bread flour in my chocolate chip cookies, but it is added to make them more thick and chewy.  That’s exactly what I am going for.  And then, oh my goodness this cookie sure does pack a chocolate punch with both semisweet and milk chocolate mixed into the dough.  This recipe uses chocolate cut from a bar instead of chocolate chips.  Chips have stabilizers that help them keep their shape when baked.  But, when you use real chocolate and you bite into a cookie right from the oven, the chocolate melts and oozes from the cookie.  If you haven’t tried it, you won’t believe how delicious it is.  You won’t ever have your chocolate chip cookies any other way.

Everyone says they have the perfect chocolate chip cookie, but I won’t say that.  I will say that these were some of the best I’ve had.  A bit crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, and bits of chocolate throughout.  This is exactly how a chocolate chip cookie should be.  I think my husband ate half of them and my kids loved them.  Sammie keeps asking for more of the Amazin’ cookies. Amazin’?  I love it.

Flour Bakery’s Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Yield: 2 dozen (I got 20 cookies)

1 cup (2 sticks/228 grams) unsalted butter, at room temp

3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar

3/4 cup (165g) firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (140g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup (150g) bread flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

9 ounces (255g) semisweet chocolate, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 1/2 ounces (70 grams) milk chocolate, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer a few times to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed to release clinging butter or sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla on medium for 2 to 3 minutes or until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the bowl and paddle to make sure the eggs are fully mixed in.

In a medium bowl, stir together both flours, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Add the semi sweet and milk chocolate pieces and toss to combine.  On low speed (or with a wooden spoon), slowly add the flour-chocolate mixture to the butter-sugar mixture.  Mix just until the flour mixture is totally incorporated and the dough is evenly mixed.

For the best results, scrape the dough into an airtight container and let rest in the fridge overnight (or at least 3-4 hours) before baking.  When you are ready to bake, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.

Drop the dough in 1/4 cup balls onto a baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment) about 2 inches apart. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden on the edges but still soft in the center. I rotated the pans halfway through baking. Don’t let them brown through or you will lose the chewiness of the slightly underbaked centers.  Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes.  Then, transfer the cookies with a spatula to the wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.  Unbaked dough can stay in the fridge, in an airtight container, up to 1 week.

Source:  Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe

12 Comments
by Just Baked on August 15, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Just Baked on August 15, 2012

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Cookies and Cream Donut Muffins

I wanted to make donut muffins for breakfast this morning, but I didn’t really feel like cinnamon.  Crazy, I know.  I’ve done chocolate frosted, vanilla frosted and powdered sugar donut muffins.   They were all delicious.  But, what could I do to make these different?  Ooo, how about cookies and cream?  Don’t Oreos make just about everything better?  I decided to use the recipe for donut muffins from Back in the Day Bakery as the starting point, omit the spices, and fold in crushed Oreos.  Then I added a thick vanilla frosting and some crushed Oreos on top for garnish.  Okay, so maybe these look like cupcakes.  But, they really do have the texture of cake donuts and those are considered breakfast.  So, I am going to go ahead, take it upon myself and declare these perfectly acceptable for breakfast.  I mean, definitely not for everyday, but as a special treat when you want to see your kids eyes light up like it was Christmas.  If you ever wondered why I bake, this is it. ♥

Cookies and Cream Donut Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins (I would have gotten 13, but I wasn’t going to bake 1 extra muffin)

For the muffins:

3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder, preferably aluminum-free

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk

2 tablespoons buttermilk

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

2 large eggs

8 Oreos, coarsely chopped

To make the muffins:

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350◦F. Lightly spray 12 large muffin cups with vegetable oil spray.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, combine the milk and buttermilk.

In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium speed, cream the butter for 2 to 3 minutes. I used my Kitchen Aid.  Turn the speed to low and gradually add the sugar. Continue to mix until the mixture lightens in color. Add the eggs one at a time, beating just until combined. Add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the milk mixture, mixing just until smooth. Fold in the chopped Oreos.  Do not overmix or your muffins will be dense.

With a large ice cream scoop or spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them approximately two-thirds full. I had a bit of leftover batter.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are firm to the touch and lightly golden.  Let the donuts cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

For the frosting or glaze:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tbsp whole milk   I used heavy cream, but I had to add almost 3 tbsp to get it to the consistency I wanted.  If you want more of a glaze, add more cream or milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 crushed Oreos to sprinkle on top

In small bowl, stir together sugar, milk (or heavy cream- start with 1Tbsp) and vanilla extract.  Add more cream or milk, a bit at a time, and whisk until incorporated.  Continue to add more milk or cream until you get the consistency you want. Use immediately to frost/glaze the doughnuts.  Sprinkle the Oreos on top of the frosting before it sets.

Source: the donut muffin is adapted from Back in the Day Bakery.  The frosting is adapted from Sprinkle Bakes.

12 Comments
by Just Baked on August 13, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Just Baked on August 13, 2012

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Sprinkle Cookies

We were meeting some of Sammie’s friends at the zoo and I wanted to make some fun, easy to transport cookies for the kids to share after lunch.  I meant to make them the night before, but I got caught up with other things, namely the Olympics.  So, there I was, at 6AM the day of, baking cookies, when my husband stopped in the kitchen before leaving for work to ask if I was crazy.  We have been together for 20 years this November, since we were seniors in high school, so he knows the answer to this question is yes, maybe just a little bit. :D

Kids love sprinkles, so I thought these would be perfect.  This dough is so easy to put together, you can even make it half asleep.  Trust me, I tested it.  The dough is a bit sticky, but if you use a cookie scoop you can just use the trigger to release the dough right into the bowl of the sprinkles.  Reading the recipe, I thought these would taste like sugar cookies.  But to me, the texture was more of a cross between a cake and a cookie.  The cookies taste mostly of butter and vanilla, as any good sugar cookie should.  The kids (and their moms) really loved these soft, cakey sugar cookies covered in sprinkles.  Come on, what’s not to love?

Sprinkle Cookies

Yield: 24 large cookies (I got 22)

2 1⁄2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1⁄2 cup multicolor sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the eggs and vanilla.  Beat until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined.

Pour the sprinkles in a small bowl. Scoop up a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll it between your palms to form a ball. I used a medium cookie scoop because it was sticky. Roll the top half of each ball in the sprinkles. Place the balls, sprinkle side up, on a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie.  I got 9 cookies per sheet.  Bake the cookies until they are pale golden around the edges but still soft on top, about 10 minutes. Let them stand on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then remove them with a metal spatula to a wire rack to cool completely.

To freeze dough:  Cookies may be placed next to each other on parchment-lined baking sheets, frozen, transferred to zipper-lock plastic freezer bags, and stored in the freezer for up to 1 month. Frozen cookies may be placed in the oven directly from the freezer and baked as directed.  You may need to bake a minute or two longer.

Sprinkle Cookies will keep in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.

Source:  slightly adapted from Stephanie Cooks,  originally from Parenting.com (Lauren Chattman)

8 Comments
by Just Baked on August 10, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Just Baked on August 10, 2012

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Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffeecake

I was looking on Pinterest (where else?) for a recipe to use up some blueberries and I came across this blueberry cream cheese coffee cake.  I really love anything with crumb topping and then you one up a coffee cake with cream cheese?  Now we’re talking.  The cake batter is easy enough to put together.  Then you fold in the blueberries and chunks of cream cheese to complete the batter.  The crumb topping is made by just mashing together sugar, flour and cold butter.  I have tried the two fork method and I even have a pastry blender, but I find that nothing works better than mushing it with your hands.   The cake is so pretty after it is baked with all the bright purple blueberries poking out from beneath the golden crumb topping.  When you taste it, the cake itself is moist and buttery.   Then you bite into a blueberry and it’s sweet and juicy.  Then you hit a pocket of cream cheese and it’s well, as you can imagine, creamy.  I love all the different texture and taste contrasts in this cake.  Another thing I love about coffeecake?  It is one of the few times where it is completely acceptable to eat cake and call it breakfast.  Although, that’s not to say that I haven’t eaten chocolate chip cookies in the morning and called it breakfast.  But that was only me, hiding in the kitchen, stuffing them in my mouth before my kids woke up and wanted cookies for breakfast too. :D

Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Yield:  an 8 x 8 cake.  I used a 9 inch round cake pan.

For the cake:

1/4 cup (4 Tbs) butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla   (my addition)

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all- purpose flour, DIVIDED

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, washed, dried and picked over for stems    I used fresh

3 oz cold cream cheese, cut into small cubes

For the crumb topping:

4 Tablespoons flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons cold butter

Preheat oven to 375F.  Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,  cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy.  Beat in the egg and vanilla (if using).  Combine 1 cup of flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk.  Start and end with the flour mixture.

Toss the blueberries with remaining 2 Tbs flour.  With a spatula, fold the blueberries and cream cheese cubes into the batter.  Pour the batter into a greased 8 inch baking pan.  I used a 9in round.  I wish I would have put a parchment circle on the bottom so the cake would have been easier to remove and put on my cake stand.

Prepare the crumb topping:  In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar.  Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the batter.  Bake for about 40 – 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Mine took about 35 minutes.

Helpful Hints:

  • If you use frozen berries, do not thaw before using or they will bleed into the cake.  It will still taste good, but it won’t look as pretty.
  • When making the crumb topping, I find just using my hands to work better than two forks or a pastry blender.

Source: Slightly adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, originally from Taste of Home magazine

19 Comments
by Just Baked on August 8, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in blueberry, Breakfast, Cake
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Posted by Just Baked on August 8, 2012

http://justbakedbyme.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/blueberry-cream-cheese-coffeecake/

Sugar Cookies

When I was in college at University of Illinois, one of my roommates, Dawn, used to get care packages from her boyfriend’s mom (now mother-in-law).  In the box, there were always some of these super delicious sugar cookies.  Dawn was nice enough to share with us and I loved them!  I made sure to get the recipe.  Although I’m not sure why because I didn’t really bake back then.  It was probably so my mom could make them for me.  I totally forgot about those cookies until Alex pulled an old (okay, really old) binder off the bookshelf and a bunch of recipes fell out of it.  As I was cleaning up the mess, I saw this recipe and I couldn’t wait to make them.  I haven’t had these cookies in probably 15 years! Geez, now I have dated myself.  I had to double check the recipe with Dawn because the baking time and temperature was cut off.  And, I remember leaving out the cream of tartar from the ingredient list, because at the time, I didn’t know what it was.  It must not be important then, right?  She emailed me a photo of the original recipe and I was surprised that it didn’t have any vanilla or salt.  So, I decided to add them.  I also chose to use butter rather than margarine, because, well, it’s butter.  Enough said.

So, how were they?  Mmmm…just as good as I remembered.  The cookies are really buttery, not really chewy but very soft.  They are versatile in that you can change the color of the sanding sugar to coordinate with any holiday.  Or, even school colors would be cute.  Since there isn’t a holiday right now, we decided to go with Sammie’s favorite color, which for at least today, is rainbow.  I guess I could have coordinated with the colors of the Olympic rings or support Team USA with red, white and blue sugars.  But, of course, I didn’t think of that until now.  Oh, well.  Rainbow sugar tasted just fine. :D

Old-fashioned sugar cookies

Yield: I got 29 cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature   the original recipe calls for margarine

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for rolling)

1 cup of canola oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

Sprinkles optional

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the butter, sugar and powdered sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat well until combined.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt with a spoon.  Sift the flour mixture into another bowl or onto wax paper.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture slowly.  Beat just until combined.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to overnight.  The dough is very soft, but will firm up quite a bit with refrigeration.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Put about 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl.  Roll the dough loosely into balls (I used a medium sized cookie scoop) and then roll completely in granulated sugar.   Place balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Press down gently with a flat bottomed glass dipped in sugar (it should be thick if you want a chewy cookie).  Store the bowl of dough in the fridge between batches.  Sprinkle on colored sugar if you wish.  Bake at 350 for 10 – 12 minutes.  You want to pull them out when they look set.  There should be almost no browning.  They should be very white.

They freeze well in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Source:  Adapted from Lois Curran ( My friend Steve’s mom)

10 Comments
by Just Baked on August 6, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Cookies
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Posted by Just Baked on August 6, 2012

http://justbakedbyme.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/sugar-cookies/

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