Peanut Cookies

Holy cow! It has been a while. There was a lot going on so I had to take a break from baking. But I am back! I found some great new cook books filled with delicious sounding recipes. The first one I ha to make involves peanuts just for my sweetie. He's been very patient during the baking drought.

I pulled this recipe from  the 1940's Metropolitan Cook Book which was put out by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. This is one of the several cookbooks I found while on vacation.

Looks simple enough and it does not look like it is going to produce 15 dozen cookies. Yeah! One common problem I am having with some of these older recipes is the amount of cookies I actually get from them. Despite what he says, neither I nor my boyfriend need 5 dozen cookies in the house.

I decided to use unsalted butter as the fat since I always have lots of it on hand. Had to buy some peanuts but gave my sweetie the rest of the container. It lasted less than a week. 

There doesn't seem like there is enough butter...but let's keep going. Gonna add the eggs.

It's starting to take shape. A nice and fluffy dough!

Always read the entire recipe first. Sometimes I don't but it is a good practice to get into. I was not paying attention and added the peanuts to the cookie dough.

It did not feel like there was quite enough peanuts so I added more to the top. 

After just 12 minutes I got these fluffy cuties!

My kitchen smells like peanuts! 

These baked up nice and fluffy. And smell delicious!

These came together quick and easy and didn't require anything special. I didn't even have to bust out the standing mixer! They were very light in texture and flavor. These will not be mistaken for peanut butter cookies. The peanut taste was barely there. If I hadn't mistakenly added peanuts to the mix there would not have been much peanut flavor. That being said, they were delicious. Easy enough to throw together in a pinch and you just have to remember to add extra peanuts.

My Rating: Pretty good. Easy for a last minute cookie.

Dylan Rating: "Needs more peanuts but it's nice."

English Tea Cakes

I have been really into simple baking lately. Nothing fancy or overly complicated. Just nice, easy cookies. I need to take on something more unique but maybe later. I loved the introduction to this recipe and had to make it, English Tea Cakes from the 1951 edition of The Cookie Jar. Tea cakes are similar to cookies, right?

The only thing I was missing was the currants. I had raisins and golden raisins but no currants. The British school teacher calls for currants and so I must get them!

I got a box of Zante currants, which are basically really small raisins. They are kinda cute!

Creaming butter and sugar! I tried for an artsy shot. 

Time to add the currants! These are fun. I am going to have to find more recipes with them. It does seem like a lot of currants...

Believe it or not, I actually read all through the instructions it just never clicked that this was more of a bar recipe instead of a cookie recipe. The recipe did not give dimensions for the pan except 'shallow.' Okay...I just grabbed my largest cookie sheet. I hoped it will fill out the pan in the oven, like a cake.

Hmm... It did not fill out the pan. Damn. It kind of looks like an uneven sheet cake. Oh well.

Time to cut them into little squares. I used a pastry cutter instead of a knife and it worked so much better! I was actually able to cut in straight lines. Wow!

Look at these delicious cuties! The currants all fell to the bottom of the tea cakes but next time I'll just have to cover them in flour first.

I just happened to decide to bake on a beautifully bright day. Sunshine and light tea cakes!

These are moist yet light delicious snacks! The thinner parts of the pan turned out much crisper than the thicker center but all parts were edible and tasty. Next time I would either bake it in a smaller pan or spread it out more evenly. I loved the little Zante currants! It felt like you got more currant flavor through out the cakes. These kept very well in a sealed container on the counter.

My Rating: Keeper! Easy and just different enough.

Dylan's Rating: Yum! I like the thinner ones better.

Friend Rating: "I did my best to make them last all week- last one this morning- They were GREAT!"

Best Yet Walnut Bread

Sometimes the best way to figure out what to bake is just to read recipes aloud. Someone will let you know, loudly, what they want (Dylan). This is not a recipe I would have chosen since it seems a little plain but it caught Dylan's attention so I thought I would give it a go. It is from my handwritten green cookbook and probably from the 1940's-ish. 

I do not have the best of luck with breads but let's try. Looks super easy!

This is such a simple recipe with everything readily available. Who doesn't have flour, milk, and walnuts around?

All dry ingredients are mixed. All wet ingredients are mixed. Walnuts are waiting patiently. 

Easy peasy mixing! It did turn out quite thick.

Added the walnuts. They got tired of waiting.

As I mentioned before, I do not have very good luck with breads. I have a 8 inch bread pan and it looks like the dough is just enough. My main problem is that the bread overflows! This does not look like it will. I have hope!

At 60 minutes the center was still a bit runny. Same with 70! I had to bake it for 80 minutes for the center to come out clean. It also looks like it the edges are a bit hard. Smells delicious but I'm afraid it is overbaked.

I had to warm up a slice and add a nice smear of butter. Do Not Put Vintage Dishes in the Microwave! or Dishwasher! They will be destroyed, shattered into a million pieces and you will be crying on the floor.

This was surprisingly yummy! The ends were ends hard as a rock but the insides was nice and moist. I would probably try this again with a larger pan. The walnuts were spread evenly throughout. I enjoyed it! I kept feeling like something was missing but I think I am too used to banana bread. I have to admit: I have never had just plain walnut bread. 

My Rating: Definitely a keeper!

Dylan's Rating: This is so delicious! Ends are a bit hard.

Cinnamon Buns

This year we have have only gotten one good snow day so far. I didn't think we would get any but it just waited a little before it it dumped a few inches on us. I am not a fan of snow or any kind of cold weather but it is pretty to look out. From the window. Wrapped in a blanket. With a mug of hot chocolate. Far far away from the snow. Since I had a boyfriend lazing around the house and enjoying his snow day I thought I'd make something sweet and simple. 

I found this nice recipe in a 1936 booklet from Arm & Hammer and Cow Brand called Successful Baking for Flavor and Texture. Looks super easy and uses sour milk, just like my last baking adventure.

There is nothing too unusual about these ingredients. Except for the sour milk. 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar then add milk to the 1/2 cup line. Easy peasy. Still looks gross.

Man, this came together really easy! Pretty much just mix everything together.

A quick knead gives me this lovely little ball.

Even though I now have marble countertops, I still love to use my marble slab. And now I have a lovely, new, handmade, rolling pin! I am pretty certain it is about a quarter of an inch think even if it's not exactly a perfect rectangle. 

Such a beautiful layer of cinnamon and sugar!

In true Jenn fashion I decided not to measure. But I'm feeling good about this! It cut nice and easy and almost no filling fell out. Yeah!

The recipe said I could add pecans if I wanted. What a weird thing to say. Who wouldn't want to add pecans?! After placing all the buns in the pan I think I may have cut them a little too thin. I had to squish the last 2 in the middle but it doesn't look too bad.

Such cute little buns!

I'm not going to admit how long it took me to find the baking information on the recipe. Always read the entire recipe before starting even the fine print at the bottom. I ended up baking them for 30 minutes total, 10 more than recipe. The center ones were looking a bit undercooked.

Smells delicious! Looks...okay. I can't tell if the pecans burned or just caramelized. I thought there was going to be a little more sauce on the top almost like a sticky bun. That didn't happen. Still smells really good!

Delicate little pecan cinnamon buns!

Is this picture sideways?

Although not the prettiest, these turned out pretty tasty! I still think the pecans burned a bit but Dylan insisted it was all caramelization. I probably over baked them. Next time I think I would do slightly wider rolls and a larger pan. These were the perfect size to snack on all day. None of them made it to the next day. 

My Rating: Easy and tasty enough to bake again!

Dylan Rating: I really like these! Delicious!

Chocolate Drops

It's is finally a new year! I am ready for new and exciting things. I usually don't do New Year's Resolutions because I am too lazy to keep them but this year I thought I would try to make and keep a few. Starting off simple with just a little bit of exercise every week and drinking less soda. I am also going to try to update my blog more regularly. No promises. Especially since January is almost already over... Perhaps I should start in February.

For my first baking adventure for the new year I decided to go easy. I pulled out the wonderful 1940's Christmas Cookies pamphlet from Wisconsin Gas & Electric. They are nice and easy to follow! And usually turn out great. I want to start on a good note.

I had a whole bag of walnuts so had to use those. A little bit of online hunting revealed that 1 square of chocolate equals 1 ounce and that sour milk is 1/2 a tablespoon of vinegar then whole milk added to the 1/2 cup line. And sour milk looks and smells gross so don't think too much about it.

I hate chopping chocolate. Can't tell you why but I find it annoying and messy.

When you are melting chocolate in the microwave, take your time! Do it 15 seconds at a time and mix in between heatings or you will end up with a bubbling mess that is only good for the trash.

So light and fluffy! I'm kind of concerned that these are going to be too soft. I might have to chill them in the fridge for a while.

Well, these actually didn't need any chilling. They stayed together quite well on the tray, ready to be topped off with an walnut.

The smell of cookies is in the air!! I should bake more often... 

It was way too cold to go outside for a picture so I had to actually clean off a table. Boo. 

Little chocolate clouds!

These are amazingly light and airy!! Adding baking soda and sour milk causes a cool chemical reaction which creates cloud cookies! I added chopped walnuts in addition to the one on top. For variety. It was too easy to eat too many of these. Just sit down and start snacking and soon the bag will be empty. The one change I would make would be to add mini-chocolate chips to the mix. I definitely felt that there wasn't enough nuts in the cookies but I think mini chips would be even better. Keep an eye out for an update!

My Rating: Keeper! Must try again with mini chips.

Dylan's Rating: Sooo good! Sooo light. I could eat the entire bag. Can I eat the entire bag?