cookie recipes

charles and debra ghigna stay awhile

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

#10 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2010.


 photo by LostMyHeadache – NewBeginnings –

Ooooo! This is the part of the Potluck where we dim the lights and tell scary stories! 

Today we have not one, but two guest poets – Charles Ghigna and his lovely wife, Debra! I’ll admit that when I invited Charles, I didn’t realize Debra was also a poet.  I must say, these two clearly know how to par-tay. Along with their poems and cookie recipe, they also brought their sleeping bags! I love guests who know how to make themselves at home. Now we can stay up all night and have a poetry slam. The attire of choice: silk pajamas, of course! 

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sweet talk with cakespy jessie oleson

~ jama ~ 4 Comments

                She’s here! She’s here! Let the sweetness begin!

 

When I decided to devote the month of March to Cupcakes and Bake Shop Treats, I immediately thought of Jessie Oleson, a.k.a., CakeSpy. After all, her sweet and scrumptious blog is where I get my daily sugar fix. There, I feast on delicious interviews with bakers and pastry chefs, read about fun baking experiments, learn about bakeries all over the country, and of course, drool over the neverending stream of recipes, stunning photographs, and whimsical Cuppie art.

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here, cookie cookie!

~ jama ~ 9 Comments



I saw this adorable image at CakeSpy.com recently, and simply had to ask Head Spy, Jessie Oleson, for permission to post it here. It’s got to be one of the cleverest ways ever, to present a cookie!

Turns out she created the drawing for a guest post she was doing for Serious Eats (see it here), featuring the recipe for Berlinerkranser wreath cookies. I love to make these buttery wreaths flavored with orange zest, because they always look beautiful on a cookie tray and are totally scrumptious, melt-in-your-mouth heaven. In case you’re looking for a new cookie to impress your guests this holiday season, try Jessie’s recipe, or the one I’ve always made, from the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook:

CHRISTMAS WREATHS
(makes 54 cookies)

sugar
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsp. grated orange peel
2 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg white, beaten
red and green candied cherries, chopped

1. In large bowl, measure 1/2 cup sugar and next 5 ingredients. With mixer at low speed, beat ingredients until just mixed; increase speed to medium and beat 4 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. (Mixture may look dry.)

2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Take a heaping teaspoon-ful of dough at a time and roll it into 6-inch rope. Place each dough rope on cookie sheet in a circle, crossing ends over.

3. Brush cookies with egg white and sprinkle on some sugar. Decorate with red and green cherries.

4. Bake 10-12 minutes until light golden. Allow wreaths to cool on cookie sheet. Store cookies in a tightly covered container.

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*Bonus Recipe

Speaking of looking beautiful on a cookie tray, I also love these Neopolitan Cookies. They take a little more time, but are totally worth it. Nom nom all the way!

NEOPOLITAN COOKIES
(makes 72 cookies)


photo by mmwm.

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. almond extract
5 drops red food color
1 square unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. With mixer at low speed, beat flour, sugar, butter, egg, baking powder, vanilla and salt until just mixed. At medium speed, beat 3 minutes.

2. Divide dough among 3 small bowls. Add almond extract and red food color to one portion; stir until thoroughly mixed.

3. In 1-quart saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate. Mix chocolate into second portion; mix walnuts with remainder.

4. Line 9″x5″ loaf pan with waxed paper and spread almond dough evenly in pan. Then spread walnut dough and finally, chocolate dough.

5. Cover layered dough in pan with waxed paper and place it in refrigerator until firm, about 4 hours.

6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Invert pan over board to turn out chilled dough and peel off waxed paper.

7. With sharp knife, cut dough lengthwise in half. Slice each half of dough crosswise into 1/4-inch slices.

8. Place slices on cookie sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake 10 to 12 minutes unti light brown. Remove to wire racks and cool.


by erin taylor.

♥ If you’ve yet to experience the unending deliciousness that is CakeSpy, make sure you click on through lickety split. Jessie and her fellow cake detectives have been posting all kinds of wonderful holiday recipes. Check the CakeSpy Online Shop for adorable Cuppie merchandise — cards, prints, t-shirts, accessories, etc. Yummy!

 

Whatever else be lost among the years,
Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing:
Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears,
Let us hold close one day, remembering
Its poignant meaning for the hearts of men.
Let us get back our childlike faith again.
~ Grace Noll Crowell

*Berlinerkranser image used by permission, copyright © 2009 Jessie Oleson. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan’s alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

dessert first, last, and in between

~ jama ~ 11 Comments

Now here’s a book that’s got my name written all over it.

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed my subtle tendency total obsession with baking and sweets. Like most writers, I am especially mad for chocolate. Dessert First by Hallie Durand features some particularly decadent chocolate and more than satisfied my present craving.

Eight-year-old Dessert Schneider (whose family owns the Fondue Paris restaurant), is just the kind of spunky, quirky little minx I love to read about. She follows in the tradition of Eloise, Ramona, Junie B., and Clementine — the type of character who gets into the kind of mischief we’d secretly like to, if only we had the nerve.

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cookies for santa?

~ jama ~ 18 Comments

 

When I was little, we never left out milk and cookies for Santa.

*cue in violins*

I don’t know whether my parents simply didn’t know about this tradition, or if it just wasn’t commonplace in Hawai’i during the Dark Ages. My cousins never talked about it, so I’m guessing they didn’t do it either.

Perhaps this explains my life-long cookie compulsion — eating them at every possible opportunity, baking them (they are the only gift item I make myself), and constantly seeking out new recipes. During the holidays, I like to be prepared: you just never know when Santa’s going to drop in, or what will please him the most.

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