Bake it Forward

Bridget from Bake at 350 posted helpful baking/decorating tips for the upcoming holiday and thought I would share them with you.  Her post definitely puts my mind at ease and know that if I start early enough, I'll have plenty of baked and decorated goods for everyone.  :)  I'm so excited and I just can't wait to get started on my holiday baking.  

Happy 4th Birthday, Mikaeli!

The bf's neice is turning 4 this weekend and I'm baking these adorable frog shaped royal icing cookies (Princess and the Frog themed birthday):

Luckily Sugar and Spice in Daly City carries frog cookie cutters.  I plan on using fondant for the eyes and piping all the other details using royal icing.  I'll post pics this weekend.  

 As you can see, the frogs are missing the hearts on their cheeks.  I had such a difficult time piping for some reason and was only able to successfully decorate 12 out of 3 dozen+ cookies.  I was tired, had a headache, and the baby kept kicking me throughout the cookie making process.  It was a baking disaster!  Needless to say, I was exhausted and had a huge headache the day of the party.  :(  

Below you will find the sugar cookie and royal icing recipes.  I may do a batch of chocolate and regular sugar cookies since the chocolate ones were a big hit for Halloween.  

These are a few pics of Yo Gabba Gabba cookies I made last year for Mika's birthday:

Look at how small my old oven was compared to the cookies.  Crazy how much baking I did in such a small space.  This was my first attempt at royal icing but I promise I'm much better now...I think. ;)


Sugar Cookie Recipe

taken from Cookie Craft

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla* or 1 teaspoon vanilla plus zest of 1 lemon
food coloring (if cookie design calls for it)

*Instead of vanilla, you can use other extracts such as almond or peppermint.

1. Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Using your mixer, use the paddle attachment to cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla (and lemon zest, if you're using it) or your extract of choice and mix until well blended.

3. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until the two are thoroughly blended.

4. If your cookie design calls for adding food coloring, do so now, and continue blending until desired color is reached and is evenly incorporated.

5. Turn out dough onto work surface and divide into two or three equal portions, form each one into a rough disk.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

7. After you have rolled and cut the dough and the cookie shapes are on parchment-lined cookie sheets, bake them in the middle rack of the oven for 12-16 minutes or until the cookies start to turn slightly golden around the edges.

8. Cool cookies completely on a rack before icing or decorating.

Yield
2 1/2-inch cookies--about 30
3 1/2-inch cookies--about 16
4 1/2-inch cookies--about 12

 

Royal Icing taken from Bridget 

4 TBSP meringue powder
scant 1/2 c. water
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp light corn syrup
few drops clear extract (optional)

1.  Combine the meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy. 

2.  Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!) 

3.  Add in the corn syrup and extract if desired. ( I think the corn syrup helps keep the icing shiny.)  Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form. 

4.  (You should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold up and jiggle without the peak falling.) Do not overbeat.

5.  Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing or divide and color using gel paste food colorings.  (I use both Wilton and AmeriColor food colors). 



 

Happy Halloween!

Just in case you're looking for a sweet treat to bring to a halloween party this weekend, I made this last year: 

 Halloween candy bark

It looks like a hot mess but it's unbelievably good.  Salty and sweet and great for kids.  :)  Here's the link to Annie's Eats to get a better idea. 

Ingredients:
1 lb. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 Butterfinger candy bars (or 8 fun size bars), roughly chopped
3 toffee candy bars (or 6 fun size bars), roughly chopped
8 Reese cups, cut into wedges
¼ cup honey roasted peanuts
3 oz. yellow and orange peanut M&Ms, coarsely chopped
3 oz. good quality white chocolate, finely chopped

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Pour the chocolate over the foil and smooth into a thin layer with a spatula.  Evenly sprinkle the chopped candy bars, Reese cups, honey roasted peanuts, and peanut M&Ms over the melted chocolate.  Press gently to adhere the candy to the melted chocolate.  Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.

Melt the white chocolate, again using the double boiler method, until smooth.  Drizzle over the chilled candy bark.  Return to the refrigerator and let chill again until the white chocolate is set, 3o minutes more.

Peel the sheet of chocolate away from the foil and break into irregular pieces.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Not a big fan of all the candy?  That's ok.  Here's another recipe I plan on baking for Kylie's class and my co-workers:

 photo courtesy of Bridget

 Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies
{adapted from Everyday Food}

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 c dutch-process cocoa (or regular unsweetened cocoa)
  
• About 36 candy corns

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment.

Beat/stir the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the egg yolk, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour & cocoa, and mix until a dough forms.

Scoop out level teaspoons (a measuring teaspoon, not a cereal teaspoon) of dough, and place balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart. (It looks like too little dough for each cookie, but it works.) Roll into balls.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are firm and cookies are dry to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes.

{While these are baking, start going through the bag of candy corn to find 36 good ones. You'll want to work quickly when they come out of the oven and it is very frustrating to keep grabbing broken candy corns. Trust me on this.}

Remove from oven; gently press a candy corn into center of each cookie (surface of cookies may crack slightly). The candy corns will stick once the cookies heat them up..they seem like they will fall off at first, don't worry.

Cool on sheets 1 minute; transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Make 32-36 cookies.

**Just a note:  The cookies are a bit thick and not as chewy as I would have liked.  I may alter the cookie recipe a bit and add more butter the next time around.  If any of you have any cookie recipes, let me know. 

And just another cookie recipe I plan on making (I'm a bit ambitious when it comes to baking..lol) - Cookie Spiderwebs.  I figured I might as well make 'em...I have a bunch of royal icing and colors laying around that I haven't touched in months.

photo courtesy of Bridget

I made mine using a chocolate sugar cookie recipe which I found on Bridget's blog also.  Such a yummy recipe.  I used the Via ready brew from Starbucks and fleur de sel.  Adds much more flavor.  Here's a pic from my phone:  

Kylie helped me marble the colors.  :)

Sweet words from my co-workers:  
"Damn, that was good." - Head boss of the Research Institute 
"Those were the tastiest cookies EVER!  Thank you!!!"