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Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Three Layer Cookie

During the Holidays I like to makes dozens and dozens of cookies for friends and co-workers. It's my gift for everyone. I set them out and then have to listen to everyone complain about their weight as they are stuffing their faces. That's why I make the cookies small, people! Don't blame me for your lack of control. But do tell me which one was your favorite... Ha Ha Ha I actually think that complaining about your weight has become a part of polite society. It reminds me of when you tell someone they didn't need to get you a gift even though you really (really) wanted one. Pretending they don't want goodies...whatever. Just take a plateful! Planet Fitness is open 24 hours.
I got a little tired after baking 10 different cookies so I had to try something a little different. Technically these are listed as cookies but they are bars. Wisconsin Power and Light Company providing another great cooking pamphlet, Festive Traditions 1969!
The only thing I didn't have was the orange juice. This looks like a great recipe looked a little time consuming since it has to cool between all the layers. Looks like a great day to wrap presents!
 I tried to separate ingredients by layers but my kitchen is too small!
 The first layer was very powdery. Not feeling really confidant about this...
 I had to increase the baking time time but it eventually browned up nicely! Now to wrap presents and wait for it to cool.
What a delicious group of ingredients! Nothing bad can come of this.
Looks like pecan pie going in...
 ...Smells like pecan pie coming out! I was concerned about the 'soft' corners on the left but we are going to hope for the best. And more presents while cooling.
The top layer is basically an icing. It was very thin going on so I stuck it in the fridge to harden. Worked like a charm! My sweetie came over for dinner so these became the dessert and I may have forgotten to get a picture before we dug in. Oops.
These are sooooo sweet! It's hard to tell but I cut these into tiny little bars, maybe an inch long.
Lovely layers! Can you feel the sugar?!
These were fantastic! and super sweet! The bottom layer was similar to a sugar cookie, the middle was like pecan pie, and the top layer was icing. I wasn't certain how the combination of flavors would fit together. But pecans, coconut, oj, and walnuts work well together! Neat.
Depending on your oven, you may have to adjust the baking time for the bottom layer. I am still learning how to use a gas oven. I would also recommend adjusting the top layer for a thicker icing. After being cooled the top layer stayed together nicely and softened up perfectly after sitting out for a few minutes. Soft but not runny.

My Rating: Wonderful! Will make again.

Friends and Family Rating: "Sweet. Different. But delicious." "Tastes almost like pecan pie!"

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Candied Cherry Macaroons

Busy times means less time to bake and share. Sorry for such a long delay!
Here is a bright cookie for the Holidays! I wanted something a little different since I figured that everyone would be getting a ton of chocolate in December. This is from the fantastic Christmas Cookies booklet from the Wisconsin Gas & Electric Company.
 Just in case you didn't realize, macrons and macaroons are very different cookies. Both delicious! But very different. Macrons are meringue based and come a a variety of colors and flavors. Macaroons are coconut based and a lot easier to make.
I happened to decide to make these just before all the candied fruits came out in the stores for all us crazy people who like making fruit cakes. Luckily I found a wonderful recipe online. Easy and cheap! And they ended up being a lot tastier than the store brand. Image that.
 Super simple ingredients. Can't beat 4!
 I didn't have to bring out the standing mixer for this one.
 It will take a little bit of arm muscles to make sure everything is mixed well together and the coconut doesn't still together.
 These are sticky little things so I recommend using spoons and not your hands to drop the cookies.
 Since these won't bake up you have to keep an eye on the coconut. It will burn!
 These looked beautiful and surprisingly festive!

Despite looking a little crisp, these were very soft and chewy and they had almost a sticky texture to them. And very sweet! I liked them! Easy to put together and cheerful. You can use store bought candied cherries but I would recommend making them yourself. It was easy and they taste amazingly different. I would almost bet that everyone who says they hate candied fruit has never had homemade ones. 

My Rating: Good but sweet. Love the color!

Friends & Family Rating: I don't know...no one said anything but they only lasted 3 days. 

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Salted Peanut Crips

After my last interesting experiment (which everyone who actually tried the cheese straws admits that they were not bad!) I thought I should go for something a little less out there. And my entire office goes crazy for peanuts. This recipe came from Gold Medal Flour's Jubilee Recipe book. It is a collection of recipes from 1880 to 1955 updated for the 'modern' age. I love it!
The recipe looks easy enough and everyone is happy! What a great mom!
 I have no idea why I had a huge bag of salted peanuts, I don't even like them, but worked for me. I did not use butter only shortening. Butter shortening would probably work best. I did not have any.
 There is almost as many peanuts as dough. I hope these actually bake.
 I love the extra sugar on top. You can always use more sugar on top!
 These baked up beautifully but let them cool completely. Crispy is better than soft in this case.
 Ta Da! Beautiful crispy cookies! My kitchen smells like peanut butter. Not a bad thing!

These cookies were amazing! Quick and easy to make and everyone loved them. I thought they were pretty good and would gladly make them again. Everyone else went crazy. They did not last 2 days in the office. The dough was very thick and it took some arm muscles to get everything mixed all together. The amount of peanuts to actual cookie was perfect!

My Rating: Great! Will make again.

Friends and Family Rating: "Best Cookies Ever!" 

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Cheese Straws

My wonderful sister got me this cookbook for Christmas to add to my collection!


Home Helps was edited by Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rorer and was published in 1898 making it the oldest book I have. It is one of the many books printed to promote vegetable shortening, Cottolene in this case, as a healthier alternative to lard. It is full of recipes (of course), household hints, and interesting sayings and quotes about women at the top of each page. For example: "All that a woman has to do in this world, is contained within the duties of a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a mother." -Steele
Delightfully old fashioned! I am so glad the world has moved on!
 Most of the recipes I try are not this old. Old recipes tend to leave out such information as oven temperature and baking time. I need a little more info than "mix and bake until done." But I had to try something from this book! Cheese straws seem easy enough.
The quote from the top of the page: "There is nothing on Earth to be compared with a virtuous and lovely woman." -Arabian
I had to guess at the amount of cayenne. 'The point of a very small penknife blade" is not very exact! I also realized after taking the picture that I picked up chili powder instead of cayenne. I fixed it later. I didn't have Parmesan so that is a wonderful bit of extra sharp cheddar instead.
I don't have much counter space so there was no way I as putting this directly on my counter. Besides, it looks really pretty in my vintage glass bowl!
 Just throwing everything in together!
I had to dump it out onto my pie mat to knead it better but it was way too dry. So I had to add almost double the amount of cream.
 Finally it became something I could work with.
 It was still too crumbly to roll out so I ended up just making little logs. Worked great!
After 20 minutes in an oven at 350: Ta Da! It said they had to be served with celery. Don't know why.

This was a simple and easy recipe to make however it had an odd flavor. (I think it was the large amount of nutmeg.) They were not disgusting but not something I want to snack on all night either. I put a warning sign on them when I gave them out for people to test. I was pleasantly surprised on how simple they were to make! I may have to try another one...

My Rating: It was a nice step into really old recipes but I will not be making again.

Friends & Family Rating: "Interesting taste. I actually like it." "Not bad but not delicious either."

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Drop Pineapple Cookies

Gotta stick with the fruit! But this time I grabbed a can. It was much easier. Yeah! Wisconsin Power and Light Company published this Cookies (all kinds) pamphlet in 1963. Pineapple seemed like a really weird choice for cookies but why not. This one promises to be dainty...okay. And they are drop cookies. Extra easy to make.
Everything looks normal except for the pineapple.
One small can of crushed pineapple was enough for the pineapple and the pineapple juice. I used walnuts for the nuts but pecans would also work.
Started off very very liquidy.
Still soft! And I actually chilled the mixture over night. No real reason...It was not because I fell asleep on the couch.
 Lovely little cookies and still quite soft. I am a little concerned about how well they will bake up.
 No need to worry. They baked great!
 You can still see little chunks of pineapple.
Yep, they are dainty! And soft and moist and yummy. They have a light fruity flavor and no overwhelming pineapple taste which is great since some people don't like pineapple. Weirdos. They did not last longer than a couple of days due to how moist they are. They started to stick together after 2 days. Once you make them, you have to eat them!

My Rating: Delicious! I wished they kept better though.

Friends and Family Rating: "What is the fruit I taste?" "Yum! Please refill the bag."