Football cookies

I wanted to make football shaped cookies for the Superbowl.  The only problem?  I didn't have a football-shaped cookie cutter.  I went into a store or two looking for one, but they were sold out.  So I decided I needed to head to my baking store looking for one, but with their hours, it would be difficult to work it out.

So, the Wednesday before the Superbowl, I finally got my hands on a football cookie cutter.  And helmet, pennant, and jersey ones, too, but I'm saving them for later.  Honestly, at that time I didn't even know what I was doing for the Superbowl, but at least at that point I knew I'd be able to bring some football cookies :)

I decided to try a new cookie recipe, too, because I was intrigued by it for two reasons.  First off, it used almond extract.  Yum!  Then, it used powdered sugar instead of granulated.  My interest was piqued!  The almond flavor was faint but I really enjoyed it.  Despite the recipe saying so, I didn't really notice a change in the texture with the powdered sugar.  These were really tasty!

I wanted to ice them with royal icing, but with the still-busted Kitchen-Aid, it was going to be really hard to make the icing.  Then I thought about covering them in chocolate and piping the laces on in white chocolate, but I figured that those would end up being too similar to the chocolate football lollipops I made.  Someone had suggested covering them in fondant, so on my second run to the baking store in one week, I picked up some colored rolled fondant for the cookies.  I scored the fondant with a toothpick and then covered over it with a little bit of white chocolate for the laces.  (I also think they'd be great with royal icing,)

Almond Flavored Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar (I even sifted it this time!)
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixer or using a hand mixer, cream together powdered sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add egg, and almond and vanilla extracts, and mix until combined.
Sift together flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, and mix until well combined.

Divide dough into two disc shapes, and wrap in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for 15 minutes (or up to 3 days).

Roll out dough to 1/8-1/4" thick and cut into cookie shapes.
Place on lightly greased of silpat covered cookie sheet (I used a parchment lined cookie sheet, ungreased).

Bake for 7-8 minutes (my first batch took 7 minutes, the second were more golden and were only in for about 6 minutes).
Remove and cool on cookie sheet.

Assembly:

Frost with royal icing or cover with fondant.
(I adhered the fondant to the cookies with a little bit of water on the fondant, and then slight pressure to affix it to the cookie.  Don't press too hard, the cookies with crack.)

Decorate with white chocolate "laces."

Moustache treats for Father's Day

Usually, I don't have the ability to delay gratification.  You see, I bought these Moustache cookie cutters in January 2012, and still haven't used them!  So unlike me!

But then a few weeks ago, when I had gone to the baking store to buy some things for graduation, I came across a moustache lollipop mold.  I had to have it!  But of course - more fitting of my typical behavior - I made some of those right away!  In milk and dark chocolate.

 

So now, for Father's Day, I decided on moustache treats.  I think it's fitting since my dad has had a moustache (and beard) for my whole life. 

Dark and milk chocolate moustache lollipops, and butter and chocolate sugar moustache cookies.  Except I decided on making chocolates ones only.  And I was going to decorate them with royal icing, but the week got away from me, and that didn't happen.  I also put some of the cookies onto sticks, so that they could (hopefully) be used as props for Father's Day pictures.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to Father's Day dinner, since I'll be working, but I'll be sure to let my sister know of my intentions for the cookies-on-a-stick!

Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies
(from none other than SmittenKitchen.com)

Ingredients:
3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (225 grams) lightly salted butter, softened (Smitten's note: I don’t really see “lightly salted” much these days, so I used one stick salted, one stick unsalted - which is what I did, as well)
1 1/2 (300 grams) cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (Smitten's note: approximately 60 grams — weights can vary a bit depending on brand. I use the “good” stuff–Droste, Galler or Valrhona –but I can assure you that my mother only used Hershey’s growing up, so your choice.   I used Hershey's Dark and they were decadent and rich and delicious!)

Direcctions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
Whisk dry flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside.
Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer.
Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth.
Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. (It does disappear once baked, though, so don’t overly fret if they go into the oven looking white.  Sorta.  Some of my cookies had a whitish coating, on the right). *This is when I added the cookie sticks*

Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed. 
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Big apple cookies

My friends B & E are leaving New York at the end of the month - they're moving back home to Kentucky.  Before they leave, they've arranged a picnic in Central Park as a send-off.  Of course I replied that I'd there and that I'm be willing to bring some food.  I was informed that B would be making a BBQ brisket and was asked to bring some sides.  I made some Mexican slaw (no mayo.....because mayo is ewwww (in my opinion), but also because mayo left out in the heat and sun is double ewwww).  But I also wanted to bring a treat.  This is, afterall, the JulieBakes blog and not a JulieCooks blog (although I wouldn't put it past myself to create that in the near future).

I tried coming up with some cute New York-themed desserts.  I already made those black and white cookies for the black-and-white-themed New Year's Eve party that I attended earlier in the year, and while I'm not against repeating a recipe in the less-than-one-year-life of this here blog, I'm not a super huge fan of black and white cookies.  Mini cheesecakes sounded like a cute idea, but it's July.  In New York.  And it's HOT!  I ended up sticking with my original idea..."Big Apple" sugar cookies!  They're tasty, easy to transport, and such a cute idea (if I do say so myself).

A few years ago I went on a cookie cutter buying spree.  I bought cookie cutters for events that I had planned (baby shower, bachelorette party); ones that I thought were versatile and "every day," like flowers and candy shapes; holiday-themed ones (Channukkah, Christmas); and ones that I simply thought were cute (fruit shapes, champagne glass).  One of those fruit shaped ones was an apple.  In my case a "Big Apple." 

I made the cookie dough a few days ahead and then baked them a few days before the BBQ.  I needed to leave enough time to make the cookies, decorate them with royal icing, and then let them dry before I packaged them up.  Then I made cute labels to put in the bagged cookies for B & E (The picture is kinda hard to read.  They say "We're going to miss you in the BIG APPLE" and they're red, but look pink in the photo.

Sugar Cookies (from Martha Stewart's Cookies, and available here)

(In full disclosure, the cookies you see above are actually butter cookies from my friend's grandmother's family recipe.  I used that version because they can be made further ahead than these sugar cookies and I had time constraints.  I have not yet gotten permission to disclose her family recipe, but this is my cut out sugar cookie recipe of choice.)

Ingredients:

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (the web version says freshly squeezed lemon juice instead of vanilla)

Directions:

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

Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy.

Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture.

Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes.
Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap (I use wax paper or in a pinch parchment paper...I also recommend flouring the paper.  The original Martha Stewart Cookies cookbook says to roll in out on a lightly floured work surface, but I always roll cookies between layers of wax/parchment) to 1/4-inch thick. Remove top layer of plastic wrap.
Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter. Transfer cut out cookies onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. dough on plastic wrap to a baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to freezer, and freeze dough until very firm, about 15 minutes.
Roll out scraps, and repeat.
Repeat with remaining disk of dough.

Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes.
Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Royal Icing (from Cookie Craft)
There are different recipes for the piping and flooding versions of the icing.  I'll be honest - in order to keep the colors the same, I made the piping incing, take what I need and pipe it onto the cookies while keeping the mixer going.  Then, when I have finished piping, I add the additional water to that version of the icing to make the flood version.

Piping Royal Icing. 
This recipe can be halved....see below
(I use meringue powder because I think it's safe and it's what I have....it can be made with powdered egg whites or liquid pasteurized egg whites, but the proportions are different, so don't replace those for the meringue powder in the same amounts)

Ingredients:

4 cups (1 lb) confectioners' sugar
3 Tbsp meringue powder (FYI, if halving, use 4 tsp meringue powder)
6 Tbsp warm water (plus an additional 6 Tbsp for flooding consistency)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer
Beat on high for 5 minutes (10 minutes if using a hand mixer).  If your mixer has a paddle attachment, use that (I used the whisk attachment and it works JUST fine).
When you reach the desired consistency, immediately cover the mixture or store it in airtight containers (As I did with the green and brown while I was using the red).

Add food coloring as desired.

Add icing into a bag fitted with a coupler and piping tip. 
Pipe away!

With the mixer going, slowly add the additional 6 Tbsp of warm water, 1 Tbsp at a time until you have the desired consistency.  You may not need all the water as you've already removed some of the icing for piping.....now you have flooding royal icing.

Let piping frosting dry and harden, then flood the area with the flooding royal icing.  I use a toothpick to spread that icing all the way to the piped edges.