Happy Valentine's :: Tea Cookies

I am having the most wonderful day! I took the day off... not because I had something planned, just because I wanted a day to rest.  Ahhh...a four day weekend!  :-)  I slept in we went for a long walk in the snow, ate way too many cookies, and I am now sipping a latte from a ginormous mug at my favorite West Village coffee shop.  I ♥ large latte mugs, don't they just feel relaxing?

I'm excited for Valentine's Day and the long weekend!  A. is planning to make dinner for us.  I don't know all the details, but I know there is a whole chicken involved!  I can't wait to see what he has planned.  Humm... maybe I'll have him write a little guest blogger post afterwards.  Ohh, I also want to go try the new Meatball Shop in the LES.  Can you believe it, a place that only serves meatballs?  I want to try the spiced pork! 

Well, Valentine's Day wouldn't be complete without a little sugar!  So, I decided to bake a few cookies to mail to friends and family.  The twelve dozen cookies I rolled out probably has something to do with how exhausted I felt yesterday! :-)  Oh well, they were delicious so it's all worthwhile!  Apart from basic heart-shaped sugar cookies (from this wonderful recipe, truly the best cut out sugar cookies!), I decided to experiment with tea cookies.  Buttery cookies flavored with tea leaves.  Delicious!  I made a batch of green tea and a batch using my favorite Kusmi Breakfast tea. They are so aromatic and light in flavor.  Not overly sweet, and perfect with a cup of tea of course!

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend! xoxo

ENGLISH BREAKFAST TEA COOKIES (adapted from Real Simple)

2 cups flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons loose breakfast tea, ground (use Earl Grey or English breakfast)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest

1 cup unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)

Preheat oven to 375F.  Grind the tea leaves using a coffee grinder or food processor.  Combine the tea with all the dry ingredients.  Add the vanilla, zest, a teaspoon of water, and butter and mix using either a food processor or a mixer with the paddle attachment until the dough has formed.

Divide the dough in two and wrap in plastic wrap.  Place in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling out.  Roll out the dough to be 1/3" thick.  Have plenty of flour handy to prevent from sticking.  Cut the cookies and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 12 minute until they start to crisp.  Allow 5 minutes to cool.

GREEN TEA COOKIES (via Lovescool)

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

5 ounces unsalted butter, cut into squares

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 large eggs

2 tablespoon ground green tea or green tea powder

1 cup granulated sugar (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine the confectioners sugar and the green tea.  Add the butter and mix with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the flour until well combined.  Then add an egg at a time until the dough is formed.  Make a disk with the dough and cover in plastic wrap.  Allow it to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough to 1/2" thick and cut with the cookie cutter.  Have a small bowl ready with the granulated sugar.  As you cut out each cookie dip it in the bowl and completely cover in sugar.  Place on a parchment line cookie sheet and cook for 12 - 15 minutes.  Cool and enjoy!

French Bakery :: Madeleines

Yesterday was a big day... I got my first Kitchenaid Stand Mixer!  It's something I've wanted for a while... imagine all the baking! But where to put it? Remember how small our kitchen is, and how we only have one counter?  Well, after a little re-arranging I convinced myself that it would fit (by re-arranging I mean: our espresso machine is now on the dining table!) oops :-) 

In spite of swooning over all the pastels, I decided to go with the chrome color.  Very industrial looking, it's perfect!  ...So lots of cakes, breads, cookies to come! ...maybe even some fresh pastas :-)

What to bake first?  Madeleines!!!  I love madeleines.  Tiny, airy, buttery cakes beautifully shaped in scalloped shell molds.  They are the perfect size when you are craving a bit of something sweet and the perfect cookie for a warm cup of tea or coffee.  

Madeleines were made famous by the French author Marcel Proust who wrote fondly about them in his book "Remembrance of Things Past".  They are said to originate from the Lorraine region in France, with conflicting stories on how they were named, but one version says that they were created by Louis XV's son-in-law's baker, who named them after her: Madeleine Paulmier. 

You can find the shell shaped molds in most baking supply stores (or online).  I prefer the steel pans over the silicone ones, that's just me... I don't think silicone molds give you the same crispness.

MADELEINES (adapted from The WS Baking Book) makes 24 cookies

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

3 eggs

3/4 cup Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Zest of 1/2 a Lemon

1/2 cup unsalted Butter, melted and cooled.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Brush the madeleine molds generously with melted butter and lightly dust with flour, tapping out any excess.  If you have a non-stick pan, skip the flour.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium, beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy (about 5 minutes).  Add the vanilla and lemon zest and beat until combined.

Using a spatula, fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until well blended.  Add a bit of the egg mixture to the melted butter.  Then carefully fold the butter into the egg mixture in three parts.

Refrigerate the batter for at least 1 hour.

Drop the batter into the center of the madeleine molds using a tablespoon.  The molds should look close to full with a little mound in the center.  Bake until lightly browned, but springy to the touch.  About 11- 12 minutes.  Be careful not to overbake.

Immediately invert the pan into a cooling rack, and make another batch.  They will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.  You can also freeze for up to a month.

Cookie Jars :: Lemon Zest Shortbread

Last night, with way too many things on my to-do list, I decided to not do any of them and instead: bake cookies! So much more fun. Well, I rationalized it with the fact that the holidays less than 2 months away so it's really time to start picking/testing cookie recipes. :-)

The truth was that I had bought a new cookie cutter in the morning and could not wait to try it. Especially when I realized that the size fit perfectly into my glass jars! (...yes, I know, I am obsessed with these) But how cute are these glass jars filled with cookies? I wanted a cookie that would keep well for a few days, so I came up with Lemon Zest Shortbread cookie jars. A few jars for us, and a few to share.

Shortbread is the most basic cookie recipe: flour, butter, sugar, and a bit of vanilla. That's it! It's a Scottish tradition, dating back to the 12h century. It's name coming The traditional recipe is 3 parts flour, 1 part sugar, and basically for every cup of flour, 1 stick of butter. This is all about the ingredients, so you need to use good quality butter and pure vanilla extract. When researching shortbreads I found out that butter has a rating system (who knew!). Look on the box and look for a "AA" rating. As for vanilla, I *heart* Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Vanilla.

I think it's the perfect holiday cookie... Picture a snowy holiday morning, staring out the window, with a big cup of tea and little shortbread cookies.

PS: I'll warn you... there are alot of pictures of cookies coming up! Sorry, but what better way to start the weekend than cookies? :-)

Enjoy! Happy Friday.

LEMON ZEST SHORTBREAD COOKIES

3 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup fine sugar (or powdered sugar)

3 sticks unsalted butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla (pure, not vanilla extract)

1/4 teaspoon of salt

*Optional: Zest of 2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine the butter and sugar with a hand blender until creamy. In a separate bowl mix the flour and salt. Add the flour and salt to the butter and eggs, along with the vanilla and lemon zest. Continue to mix with a hand blender until the dough has started to come together.

Place the dough on a light floured surface. With your hands shape the dough into a large disk. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough to 1/4" thick and cut your cookies. You can use a cookie cutter, or use a pairing knife and a ruler and make straight cuts along the dough to get rectangular cookies. To bake, place on top of parchment paper or on a lightly buttered and greased cookie sheet, and into the oven for 20 minutes or until the edges start to brown. (At this point - you could also freeze the dough).

Remove the cookies from the baking sheet and allow them to cool on a rack. I don't own a cookie rack, so I use the rack from my microwave oven. It does the trick!

When the cookies are at room temperature, store them in air tight containers. They will keep for over a week.

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea for dunking. :-)

Fresh Baked :: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

A. and I are off to our friend E.'s wedding!  My sister is driving in from Boston to dog-sit  over the weekend.  I  wanted to have a treat waiting for her when she arrived.  It's always nice to leave your house guests a small 'welcome' surprise - especially after a long drive.

She loves peanut butter, so I thought: peanut butter oatmeal cookies!  What better treat than getting home to fresh-baked cookies?  :-)

I found this great recipe on All Recipes.com and made a few edits.  Then packed a stack in parchment paper so that they would still be moist when she got in. 

PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL COOKIES

3/4 cup melted butter

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups quick cooking oats

Preheat oven at 350F.

In a large bowl, mix the softened butter, sugars, and peanut butter. When well mixed, add the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Continue to mix until creamy.

Fold in the oats (at this point you can add chips or raisins if you'd like).  Spoon teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

TIP: When finding recipes online, read the comments on recipes, they usually have good insights on any edits you should/could make.

I ♥ :: Milk & Cookies

A. (my husband) is playing soccer tonight, so I decided to surprise him with just-baked oatmeal raisin cookies ...well, and also treat myself to a cookie dough dinner!

I got this easy recipe from Joy of Baking.  

I used the same quantities, but instead of making large 1/4 cup cookies, I made smaller ones (1/8 cup ice cream scoop). I got 20 cookies in total.  Enough to enjoy some tonight, store the rest in a jar, and pack up a few in a box and take to work tomorrow!  (TIP: I  love these pastry paper boxes and always have some handy in the kitchen. I get them at Broadway Panhandler, they make all your home-baked goodies look like they came from a bakery!)