Creme' Brulee' Sugar cookies

Holidays are always festive with a lot of eating, singing and bonding with your family and friends. I wanted to do something different this time. I usually love gifting my friends with a bunch of handmade goodies, including both food and non-food items.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 15 min
Baking time: about 40 min

Ingredients

FOR THE COOKIES
3/4 Cup. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 Cup packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Cup. All-purpose flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. kosher salt


FOR THE FROSTING
1 (8-oz.) block cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 Cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 Cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350° and line two cookie sheets with parchment. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt, then add mixture to wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Dough will be thick. Using a small cookie scoop ( I used 2 teaspoons- 1 to scoop the batter and the other to slide it out), place tablespoon balls of dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Press down lightly on each cookie to flatten slightly. Bake until edges are just starting to brown, 9 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

For the frosting: Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth.Put sugar into a small bowl. Spread about a tablespoon of frosting onto tops of each cookie, then press into granulated sugar, coating frosting with sugar.Just before serving, use a kitchen torch to caramelize sugar on top, then set aside to cool. Store cookies in the fridge for up to 4 days. If you do not have a flaming torch, your broiler works just fine.

Chewy Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you are the lover of a chewy chocolate chip cookie , your journey ends here.



Difficulty level- Easy
Preparation time- 10 min
Baking time- about 15 minutes per batch

Ingredients

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour(if you do not have cake flour, please see my 'Note' at the bottom to see how to make it by yourself)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cups butter, softened
1 ¼ cups white sugar
1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (Optional)
M & M for garnish(optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, until well blended. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon, stir in walnuts if desired. Drop cookies by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Garnish with M & Ms. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are light brown. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Note: Measure 1 cup of all -purpose flour. Measure out 2 tbsp of it and replace it by the same 2 tbsp of Corn flour. Your cake flour is ready.

Ginger-bread man

Ever since I read the book on the Ginger-bread man to my son, he has wanted me to make them at home. So, I decided to make him some, with his help to prep. Also, he cut out the men all by himself(with the cutter, of course). What better time to make it other than for the Holidays? This recipe is from www.simplyrecipes.com. 

Difficulty level: Intermediate

Preparation time: 15 min

Cooking time: 8- 10 min/ batch

Makes: 16 (5-inch long) cookies

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour: 3 1/4cups, sifted

Baking soda: 3/4 tsp

Unsalted butter: 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks), room temperature/ softened

Dark brown sugar: 1/2 cup, packed

Ground ginger: 1 tbsp

Ground cinnamon: 1 tbsp

Ground cloves: 1/2 tsp

Ground nutmeg: 1/2 tsp

Black pepper: 1/4 tsp, finely ground

Salt: 1/2 tsp

Egg: 1, large

Unsulfered molasses: 1/2 cup

Raisins, chocolate chips, candy pieces: optional

For the Royal Icing: 

Egg white: 1

Lemon juice: 1/2 tsp

Confectioner's sugar: 1 3/4 cup

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and spices. Set aside.

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. (You may need to work it with your hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.) Divide dough in thirds; wrap each in plastic. Chill for atleast 1 hr, or overnight. Before rolling out, let sit at room temperature for 5- 10 min. If after refrigerating the dough feels too soft to roll out, work in a little more flour. 

Heat oven to 350 degree F. Place a dough third on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper or wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate again for 5- 10 min to make it easier to cut out the cookies. Use either a cookie cutter or place a stencil over the dough and use a knife to cut into desired shapes. Press raisins, chocolate chips or candy pieces in the center of each cookie, if desired for "buttons". 

Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Bake until crisp, but not darkened, 8 to 10 min. Remove from oven.  Let sit a few minutes and then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired. 

To make Royal Icing:

The traditional way to make Royal Icing is to beat egg whites and lemon juice together, adding the powdered sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. With modern concerns about salmonella from raw eggs,you can either use powdered egg whites or heat the egg whites first to kill any bacteria. With the heating method, mix the egg white and lemon juice with a third of the sugar, hat in a microwave until the mixture's temperature is 160 deg F. Then remove from microwave, and beat in the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Using the powdered egg whites method, combine 1 tbsp egg white powder with 2 tbsp water. Proceed as you would otherwise. (Raw egg white alternatives from the 2006 Joy of Cooking)

If the icing is too runny, add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency. Fill a piping bag with the icing to pipe out into different shapes(or use a plastic sandwich bag, with the tip of one corner of the bag cut off). Keep the icing covered while you work with it or it will dry out.

Pumpkin Cookies

When we moved into this house last October, our neighbors welcomed us into the neighborhood. I decided to make something festive to thank them for making us feel so welcome. I found this recipe for  Old-fashioned Soft Pumkin Cookies from www.verybestbaking.com.

Fast forward to this year. I was talking to my neighbor the other day when she reminded my son how wonderful the cookies were. Of course that prompted me to bake another batch. It is still a big hit with my kids ( I had a tough time saving a few for the pictures). I decided to skip the glazing though (why give them more sugar)!!! These are drop cookies, one of the easiest you can make.

On another note, this was the first thing I made in our new stand up mixer my husband bought me. I have to say it does make baking easier.



Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 18 min
Makes: 36 cookies

Ingredients:


All- purpose flour: 2 1/2 cups
Baking soda: 1 tsp
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Ground cinnamon: 1 tsp
Ground nutmeg: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Granulated sugar: 1 1/2 cups
Butter: 1/2 cup, softened
Pumpkin puree: 1 cup
Egg: 1 large
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

For the glaze: Powdered sugar: 2 cups
Milk: 3 tbsp
Melted butter: 1 tbsp
Vanilla extract: 1tsp

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease baking sheets or line them with aluminium foil.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoons (or a cookie drop, if you happen to have that in hand) onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 min; remove to wire racks to cool completely if you intent to glaze them. If you're choosing to skip the glazing, dig in while it is still warm.

For the glaze; Combine all the ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

My kids love the store bought chocolate chip cookies. So, instead of allowing them to eat all the preservatives contained in them, I decided to make them at home. This easy recipe is from The Hershey's Kitchens.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 15 min
Cooking/ baking time: 8-10 min/ batch
Makes: about 60 cookies

Ingredients:


Butter: 1 cup, softened
Sugar: 3/4 cup
Light brown sugar: 3/4 cup
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Eggs: 2
Baking soda: 1 tsp
All-purpose flour/ maida: 2 1/4 cups
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Milk chocolate chips: 2 cups
Chopped nuts: 1 cup, optional

Heat oven to 375 degree F.

Beat the butter, sugars and vanilla in a large bowl, with a whisk until creamy. Add eggs and beat well. Sift together baking soda, flour and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture and beating well until well blended. Stir in chips and nuts, if needed. Use a cookie drop to drop  the cookies about 2 inches apart. If you don't have that fancy gadget, just use the teaspoon as the measure.

Bake 8 to 10 min, or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to a cooling rack. Cool completely.

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