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| Bust out the baker's twine, it's the holiday season, bitches - Photo by Wasabi Prime |
Showing posts with label holiday cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday cookies. Show all posts
Monday, December 16, 2013
OMG a Recipe: Ho-Ho-Holiday Gift Emergency? Don't Panic, Have a Cheese Cracker
I'm interrupting my Germany/France posts for a couple of weeks because I realized, holy crap, it's the holidays! And I'm sure you've been like me, doing all the frenzied last-minute buying, baking, wrapping of gifts. Or maybe not. Maybe you, too, are only now realizing, Holy Crap It's the Holidays, and that you do not want to commit the same gift sin as last year's Chia Pet/Pajama Jean debacle that everyone has vowed silence over, never to be spoken of again. Ever. So, why not give a gift that's not only tasty, easy on one's schedule, but you can say it was homemade? Because no one's going to believe you knitted those Pajama Jeans, you big ol' liar.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
UnRecipe: Tips for Holiday Baked Gifts
I realize we're only at the halfway point of December, and Christmas isn't for a couple of weeks, but if you're on true Holiday Time, you know it's the home stretch for getting gifts prepared and mailed off or ready to give away at the next holiday party. By the time the dwindling days of December's early twenties hit and Christmas Eve is just around the corner, I hate to say it, your holiday goose is cooked since a lot of online stores may not be able to guarantee Dec. 25th delivery and if the malls seemed crazy before, they'll be like a cracked-out madhouse by then. So, why not keep things simple and consider something handmade and edible. Like Wasabi Mom would always say, Food Always Fits.
It's gotten more difficult to buy things for people over the years. Personal interests change, priorities get shuffled with new jobs/babies/life as a whole, and for most of our friends and family, we're in that stage of "no more stuff, please." We have all the things we really need, and frankly, so many people are looking to simplify their life by cutting back on the objects that eventually become clutter. But holiday gifts are all about showing appreciation, a token of love and gratitude for the person being important in our lives, so why not get into the true holiday spirit and shower them with sweets and junk food we'll all be swearing off in the new year? Pull out that rolling pin and unholy amounts of butter -- it's time to get baking!
Homemade baked goods as gifts don't have to be fancy. If anything, the simpler the better, if you're making large batches of gifts to give away. I've gone through my phases of doing complicated confections like layered petit fours with fancy-schmancy icing, holiday-shaped sugar cookies that took more time to decorate than bake, and any number of ideas I saw on Martha Stewart's site that inevitably brings up the, "Oh, that's a good idea," lightbulb in my head and I'm up till 2am, just trying to get a single batch of something completed. I've gotten to the point where I look for simple cookie recipes where the dough is very basic and easy to double or triple batches, and keep the decorating simple, but colorful. The cupcake fad has brought more confectionary elements to the basic grocery store aisles, so I've been able to find little pearlized sugar dragée decorations, along with sanding sugars in gold and silver. Instead of going to the high-end specialty shops, I often find large containers of colorful sanding sugars at discount stores like Ross or Marshalls, where they have small kitchen sections. The decorative sugars are dry goods and have a fairly long shelf life, so I often buy my supplies after the holidays and just keep them in the pantry for the following year. I probably use the plain, large crystallized sugar the most for baking projects year-round, so if you're only going to get one item, that would be the most useful.
I stuck with the simple sugar bonbon cookie recipe from the CakeSpy book. It was small and jewel-like with some sprinkles on it, you stuff each cookie with bits of chocolate or nuts for a sweet surprise, and it was easily made in multiple batches since you use a little cookie scoop tool to get the shape nice and round. If you're making about three or four batches of something, this is the recipe for success. Once they're baked, it's all about packaging them to finish them off so that they feel very precious and gift-like.
Little celophane cookie bags are your friend during the holidays. You can get printed ones or clear bags, and while they come with handy wire twist-ties, I like using those and then tying some ribbon or strips of cloth to really make it feel like a little gift. The bags come in bulk, and you can either buy them online or if you're in the Seattle area, my favorite store for getting packaging is the aptly-named Packaging Specialties store in Bellevue. They have cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes and many have the clear, food-friendly coating on the inside, if you're putting something rich like brownies in them, and don't want the food oils to soak through. Get some ribbon or strips of decorated paper to make a simple band around the boxes and finish off with an address lable seal, writing what the item is. You don't really need wrapping paper, and probably shouldn't, as you want the recipients to know right away it's a food gift, so eat immediately. Another way of packaging food to make it feel extra-special is using glass jars. You can get large canning jars in bulk, or if you're only getting a few, nose around antique or secondhand stores -- there's often inexpensive vintage glass jars that make for great presentation. A quick run through the dishwasher, fill it with a favorite treat or snack, and then put a nice bow around the top -- it becomes a special gift, as well as a unique cookie jar for future use.
Along with cookies, I made some quick candy treats. Caramel popcorn is surprisingly easy and fast. I bought a jar of popcorn kernels and popped about three or four batches' worth of plain popcorn over the stove in a large lidded pot. I was careful to remove as many of the "old maids" as possible, to keep people from cracking teeth on seeds, and set the popcorn aside to cool while making batches of caramel. I had a basic recipe for caramel corn, but added extra flavor by putting in some cayenne pepper and cinnamon, which gave it a nice spicy sweetness. I did have one caramel casualty -- I was multitasking too many things and let the caramel sit on the stove for too long, and burned one batch. Caramel sauce down!! But it was a good lesson to not take your eyes off cooking sugar, not even for a second. Once I had a few ample piles of caramel corn popped and cooled, I stored them in large freezer bags until I could fill the individual gift bags for the final presentation. As you can see from the photo below, our house becomes like a food factory, with a few days devoted to making the sweets and then another day devoted to packaging everything up for the dozen or so people who get sweets as gifts. But it's totally true when they say packaging is everything -- if you go through the effort of making something special, it should be presented like a treasure, no?
I think variety is what makes baked gifts more interesting. Instead of giving a hefty bag of the same cookie, I'd rather give smaller portions of different things. So far I had cookies and caramel popcorn, so my last item was a riff on the old favorite, peppermint bark. I had done the classic peppermint bark in the past -- melting white and dark chocolate, layering on a tray and sprinkling with crushed peppermint candies. It's a pretty and simple presentation, but I wanted to do something different. The combo of chocolate and peanut butter is a favorite, so I did a layer of melted peanut butter chips mixed with white chocolate, then a layer of milk chocolate and a hefty sprinkle of crushed almonds to finish. I also did an all-chocolate version, using a layer of melted dark chocolate sprinkled with dried cranberries, crushed pistachios and a sprinkling of a smoky finishing salt. They're so intensely sweet, it's fine to give small amounts of each one. They show nicely in clear bags, so I divided the broken-up shards of two different candy bark and labeled accordingly.
This sounds like a wild and crazy undertaking, but by no means do you have to go this route of Holiday Baking Gone Wild. The point is to pick time-tested recipes that you're comfortable with and spending a little extra effort on packaging the finished goods. By making multiple things, it keeps the gift interesting, and I hope the recipients enjoy the variety as well. Since many of these had to be mailed, I chose items that weren't particularly delicate, since most of these treats would be sent off in boxes, tossed about every which way. Sturdiness is another Prime-Approved baked goods rule, so consider that as you're choosing cookie recipes.
As the pre-Christmas days dwindle, consider skipping the mall to get someone yet another piece of clutter they'll wonder what to do with, and just make them something sweet to show your appreciation!
 |
| Tis the season to take over the kitchen with cookies - Photo by Wasabi Prime |
It's gotten more difficult to buy things for people over the years. Personal interests change, priorities get shuffled with new jobs/babies/life as a whole, and for most of our friends and family, we're in that stage of "no more stuff, please." We have all the things we really need, and frankly, so many people are looking to simplify their life by cutting back on the objects that eventually become clutter. But holiday gifts are all about showing appreciation, a token of love and gratitude for the person being important in our lives, so why not get into the true holiday spirit and shower them with sweets and junk food we'll all be swearing off in the new year? Pull out that rolling pin and unholy amounts of butter -- it's time to get baking!
 |
| Dress your cookies up for the holidays to make 'em feel special - Photos by Wasabi Prime |
Homemade baked goods as gifts don't have to be fancy. If anything, the simpler the better, if you're making large batches of gifts to give away. I've gone through my phases of doing complicated confections like layered petit fours with fancy-schmancy icing, holiday-shaped sugar cookies that took more time to decorate than bake, and any number of ideas I saw on Martha Stewart's site that inevitably brings up the, "Oh, that's a good idea," lightbulb in my head and I'm up till 2am, just trying to get a single batch of something completed. I've gotten to the point where I look for simple cookie recipes where the dough is very basic and easy to double or triple batches, and keep the decorating simple, but colorful. The cupcake fad has brought more confectionary elements to the basic grocery store aisles, so I've been able to find little pearlized sugar dragée decorations, along with sanding sugars in gold and silver. Instead of going to the high-end specialty shops, I often find large containers of colorful sanding sugars at discount stores like Ross or Marshalls, where they have small kitchen sections. The decorative sugars are dry goods and have a fairly long shelf life, so I often buy my supplies after the holidays and just keep them in the pantry for the following year. I probably use the plain, large crystallized sugar the most for baking projects year-round, so if you're only going to get one item, that would be the most useful.
 |
| Best tip for baking cookies for gifts? Keep it simple! - Photo by Wasabi Prime |
I stuck with the simple sugar bonbon cookie recipe from the CakeSpy book. It was small and jewel-like with some sprinkles on it, you stuff each cookie with bits of chocolate or nuts for a sweet surprise, and it was easily made in multiple batches since you use a little cookie scoop tool to get the shape nice and round. If you're making about three or four batches of something, this is the recipe for success. Once they're baked, it's all about packaging them to finish them off so that they feel very precious and gift-like.
 |
| Cookies with a sweet surprise and how packaging makes all the difference - Photos by Wasabi Prime |
Little celophane cookie bags are your friend during the holidays. You can get printed ones or clear bags, and while they come with handy wire twist-ties, I like using those and then tying some ribbon or strips of cloth to really make it feel like a little gift. The bags come in bulk, and you can either buy them online or if you're in the Seattle area, my favorite store for getting packaging is the aptly-named Packaging Specialties store in Bellevue. They have cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes and many have the clear, food-friendly coating on the inside, if you're putting something rich like brownies in them, and don't want the food oils to soak through. Get some ribbon or strips of decorated paper to make a simple band around the boxes and finish off with an address lable seal, writing what the item is. You don't really need wrapping paper, and probably shouldn't, as you want the recipients to know right away it's a food gift, so eat immediately. Another way of packaging food to make it feel extra-special is using glass jars. You can get large canning jars in bulk, or if you're only getting a few, nose around antique or secondhand stores -- there's often inexpensive vintage glass jars that make for great presentation. A quick run through the dishwasher, fill it with a favorite treat or snack, and then put a nice bow around the top -- it becomes a special gift, as well as a unique cookie jar for future use.
Along with cookies, I made some quick candy treats. Caramel popcorn is surprisingly easy and fast. I bought a jar of popcorn kernels and popped about three or four batches' worth of plain popcorn over the stove in a large lidded pot. I was careful to remove as many of the "old maids" as possible, to keep people from cracking teeth on seeds, and set the popcorn aside to cool while making batches of caramel. I had a basic recipe for caramel corn, but added extra flavor by putting in some cayenne pepper and cinnamon, which gave it a nice spicy sweetness. I did have one caramel casualty -- I was multitasking too many things and let the caramel sit on the stove for too long, and burned one batch. Caramel sauce down!! But it was a good lesson to not take your eyes off cooking sugar, not even for a second. Once I had a few ample piles of caramel corn popped and cooled, I stored them in large freezer bags until I could fill the individual gift bags for the final presentation. As you can see from the photo below, our house becomes like a food factory, with a few days devoted to making the sweets and then another day devoted to packaging everything up for the dozen or so people who get sweets as gifts. But it's totally true when they say packaging is everything -- if you go through the effort of making something special, it should be presented like a treasure, no?
 |
| Welcome to Santa's Village, aka, our dining room table - Photo by Wasabi Prime |
I think variety is what makes baked gifts more interesting. Instead of giving a hefty bag of the same cookie, I'd rather give smaller portions of different things. So far I had cookies and caramel popcorn, so my last item was a riff on the old favorite, peppermint bark. I had done the classic peppermint bark in the past -- melting white and dark chocolate, layering on a tray and sprinkling with crushed peppermint candies. It's a pretty and simple presentation, but I wanted to do something different. The combo of chocolate and peanut butter is a favorite, so I did a layer of melted peanut butter chips mixed with white chocolate, then a layer of milk chocolate and a hefty sprinkle of crushed almonds to finish. I also did an all-chocolate version, using a layer of melted dark chocolate sprinkled with dried cranberries, crushed pistachios and a sprinkling of a smoky finishing salt. They're so intensely sweet, it's fine to give small amounts of each one. They show nicely in clear bags, so I divided the broken-up shards of two different candy bark and labeled accordingly.
 |
| Bark if you love holiday bark! And tons of SUGAR!! - Photos by Wasabi Prime |
This sounds like a wild and crazy undertaking, but by no means do you have to go this route of Holiday Baking Gone Wild. The point is to pick time-tested recipes that you're comfortable with and spending a little extra effort on packaging the finished goods. By making multiple things, it keeps the gift interesting, and I hope the recipients enjoy the variety as well. Since many of these had to be mailed, I chose items that weren't particularly delicate, since most of these treats would be sent off in boxes, tossed about every which way. Sturdiness is another Prime-Approved baked goods rule, so consider that as you're choosing cookie recipes.
As the pre-Christmas days dwindle, consider skipping the mall to get someone yet another piece of clutter they'll wonder what to do with, and just make them something sweet to show your appreciation!
Monday, January 3, 2011
UnRecipe: the Universe is Expanding, and so is the Wasabi Waistline
How to begin this post.... Perhaps with the wisdom of the great furry feline philosopher, Garfield, where he once said that diet is simply "die" with a "t." Or maybe I should just submit this blog to This Is Why You're Fat-dot-com, because it's been a marathon of eating well for weeks and our antacid supply is ransacked like Whoville after the Grinch came a-callin'.
Probably not the most graceful way to start the new year, but let's be honest, it's the one period out of all the months where advertising goes from encouraging luscious cuts of ham, rich chocolate desserts and pure holiday indulgence, straight to the unceremonious guilt-ridden Special K diet and the weirdly adorable orange muppet that Weight Watchers uses to anthropomorphize one's insatiable food cravings. Why do you confuse my mindgrape, Madison Avenue? You tell me I should eat with abandon, and then riddle my conscience with shame?? Just for that, I'm crawling into my Snuggie and eating a cheesecake while watching The Housewives of... marathon, and I'm not coming out till next Christmas!!
I'll likely do my usual holiday detox of soup to give my insides a break from all the rich foods we've been having. It'll be kinda nice not to finish each meal with a Tums chaser because I clearly have lack of impulse control. Stop me before I om-nom-nom again! But there's no harm in enjoying the memories of the holiday food that took the vacation from my gaping maw to my stomach.
Over the Christmas break, we mostly ate at home, but had a steady stream of friends to join us for meals -- best gift of all, good company. On the Eve of the Eve, we had a little group luncheon. I was craving Vietnamese style bahn mi sandwiches along with barbecue, so the two cravings became one with a braised pork shoulder shredded and mixed with a spicy black bean sauce, spread into a split baguette smeared with a lime and chili mayonnaise and topped with pickled vegetables. Our friends clearly have great minds that think alike, bringing two bags of the Thai-spiced potato chips, which went super-duper with the sandwiches. We brought holiday/back by enjoying sweets like mini cupcakes and peppermint chocolate whoopie pies for dessert. It was a drawstring pants kind of day, for shizzle.
For just Mr. Wasabi and I, we kept things un-fussy on Christmas Eve with a meatloaf of turkey, beef and chopped porcini mushrooms. Big slabs of the loaf de meat were served with a porcini gravy and a side salad of pears dotted with winter fruits like pomegranate and dried cranberries. Have to keep it simple if we're to be in bed before Santa's arrival!
The porcini sauce and pear salad did double-duty on Christmas night, when we had a friend over, and we served up mini Beef Wellingtons -- Baby Wellies, as I annoying like to call them. I didn't go the traditional route; I used flattened cuts of tri-tip versus tenderloin, which were seared lightly and then topped with sliced morels tossed with salt, pepper and mustard. Not the typical mushroom duxelle, but whatever -- this holiday was laid-back with friends and I wanted to work with what I had versus fretting over having exact ingredients. I always buy those packages of dried wild mushrooms, and it felt like the right occasion to bust it all out. And puff-pastry hides all sins after you wrap everything up in a little bundle and bake it off. I prefer doing the miniature version of Beef Wellington, especially for a small group because it's cute on the plate and when you do it with a whole tenderloin, it never cuts perfectly and the puff pastry always slides off, resulting in Hot Mess City. I don't care what the chefs on TV say or do, it never looks as perfect as how they make it. You serve a little individual parcel of steak-stuffed puff pastry with a porcini sauce drizzle, along with some puree of roasted cauliflower and broiled broccoli -- shazam, it's holiday dinner. Eat, drink, enjoy. Especialy with a giant wheel of brie in a star-shaped brioche -- much thanks to Ms. J for bringing that delicious bomb of om-nom-nom over!
The food party rocked Christmas morning as well -- I skipped making breakfast because we were blessed with a delicious tin of homemade cookies by my favorite Angry Peanut, Miss Annie, who sent that, along with a funny Christmas card of a surly looking cat, all from the lands of Nevada. Cookies for breakfast? shhh... don't tell my mother! At this point, we considered the concept healthy eating a wash, so indulge now and pay the dire consequences later when they discover your arteries look like a giant Payday bar. I also gave Mr. Wasabi a box of his favorites, straight outta our homeskillet Washington State, Aplets and Cotlets, yo!! They're basically fruit jellies with nuts, which is kind of holiday-appropriate, and they go real nice with a big glass of thick eggnog, to wash it all down in slow motion.
The food theme spread into our gifts this year from loving friends and family. It was a lot of homemade thihngs, which I love extra-so. Knitted potholders, homemade vanilla extract, and goodies picked up from farmers markets and craft fairs like lavender sugar, soap made from goats milk and artisanal chocolate of all kinds. My Auntie S gave me a copy of Roger Ebert's The Pot and How to Use It
, his cookbook full of wise and witty observations, and a ton of easy recipes using only a rice cooker. Where the heck was this book when I was in college?! I'm eager to try some of those out, so keep an eye on future posts! And Mr. Wasabi got a new bottle of rye, appropriately named Redemption. This made an appearance in some recent cocktails, and made our holiday incredibly merry and bright.
Crazy enough, this doesn't even cover the post-Christmas meals cooked by friends or New Years Eve. Makes you want to throw on a pair of sweatpants right now, doesn't it? Call this blog post aversion therapy, but I'm off to go run a mile or count my daily intake of almonds so I can save room for next Christmas season.
 |
| 'Twas the Night Before Xmas, not a creature was stirring, only my rumbling tummy - Photo by Wasabi Prime |
Probably not the most graceful way to start the new year, but let's be honest, it's the one period out of all the months where advertising goes from encouraging luscious cuts of ham, rich chocolate desserts and pure holiday indulgence, straight to the unceremonious guilt-ridden Special K diet and the weirdly adorable orange muppet that Weight Watchers uses to anthropomorphize one's insatiable food cravings. Why do you confuse my mindgrape, Madison Avenue? You tell me I should eat with abandon, and then riddle my conscience with shame?? Just for that, I'm crawling into my Snuggie and eating a cheesecake while watching The Housewives of... marathon, and I'm not coming out till next Christmas!!
I'll likely do my usual holiday detox of soup to give my insides a break from all the rich foods we've been having. It'll be kinda nice not to finish each meal with a Tums chaser because I clearly have lack of impulse control. Stop me before I om-nom-nom again! But there's no harm in enjoying the memories of the holiday food that took the vacation from my gaping maw to my stomach.
Over the Christmas break, we mostly ate at home, but had a steady stream of friends to join us for meals -- best gift of all, good company. On the Eve of the Eve, we had a little group luncheon. I was craving Vietnamese style bahn mi sandwiches along with barbecue, so the two cravings became one with a braised pork shoulder shredded and mixed with a spicy black bean sauce, spread into a split baguette smeared with a lime and chili mayonnaise and topped with pickled vegetables. Our friends clearly have great minds that think alike, bringing two bags of the Thai-spiced potato chips, which went super-duper with the sandwiches. We brought holiday/back by enjoying sweets like mini cupcakes and peppermint chocolate whoopie pies for dessert. It was a drawstring pants kind of day, for shizzle.
 |
| Nothing says holiday like Asian bbq sandwich... right? - Photos by Wasabi Prime |
For just Mr. Wasabi and I, we kept things un-fussy on Christmas Eve with a meatloaf of turkey, beef and chopped porcini mushrooms. Big slabs of the loaf de meat were served with a porcini gravy and a side salad of pears dotted with winter fruits like pomegranate and dried cranberries. Have to keep it simple if we're to be in bed before Santa's arrival!
The porcini sauce and pear salad did double-duty on Christmas night, when we had a friend over, and we served up mini Beef Wellingtons -- Baby Wellies, as I annoying like to call them. I didn't go the traditional route; I used flattened cuts of tri-tip versus tenderloin, which were seared lightly and then topped with sliced morels tossed with salt, pepper and mustard. Not the typical mushroom duxelle, but whatever -- this holiday was laid-back with friends and I wanted to work with what I had versus fretting over having exact ingredients. I always buy those packages of dried wild mushrooms, and it felt like the right occasion to bust it all out. And puff-pastry hides all sins after you wrap everything up in a little bundle and bake it off. I prefer doing the miniature version of Beef Wellington, especially for a small group because it's cute on the plate and when you do it with a whole tenderloin, it never cuts perfectly and the puff pastry always slides off, resulting in Hot Mess City. I don't care what the chefs on TV say or do, it never looks as perfect as how they make it. You serve a little individual parcel of steak-stuffed puff pastry with a porcini sauce drizzle, along with some puree of roasted cauliflower and broiled broccoli -- shazam, it's holiday dinner. Eat, drink, enjoy. Especialy with a giant wheel of brie in a star-shaped brioche -- much thanks to Ms. J for bringing that delicious bomb of om-nom-nom over!
 |
| We ate, we drank, we drank some more, and were super-effing merry! - Photos by Wasabi Prime |
The food party rocked Christmas morning as well -- I skipped making breakfast because we were blessed with a delicious tin of homemade cookies by my favorite Angry Peanut, Miss Annie, who sent that, along with a funny Christmas card of a surly looking cat, all from the lands of Nevada. Cookies for breakfast? shhh... don't tell my mother! At this point, we considered the concept healthy eating a wash, so indulge now and pay the dire consequences later when they discover your arteries look like a giant Payday bar. I also gave Mr. Wasabi a box of his favorites, straight outta our homeskillet Washington State, Aplets and Cotlets, yo!! They're basically fruit jellies with nuts, which is kind of holiday-appropriate, and they go real nice with a big glass of thick eggnog, to wash it all down in slow motion.
 |
| Surly Christmas cat asks, can you handle this (fruit) jelly? - Photo by Wasabi Prime |
The food theme spread into our gifts this year from loving friends and family. It was a lot of homemade thihngs, which I love extra-so. Knitted potholders, homemade vanilla extract, and goodies picked up from farmers markets and craft fairs like lavender sugar, soap made from goats milk and artisanal chocolate of all kinds. My Auntie S gave me a copy of Roger Ebert's The Pot and How to Use It
, his cookbook full of wise and witty observations, and a ton of easy recipes using only a rice cooker. Where the heck was this book when I was in college?! I'm eager to try some of those out, so keep an eye on future posts! And Mr. Wasabi got a new bottle of rye, appropriately named Redemption. This made an appearance in some recent cocktails, and made our holiday incredibly merry and bright.Crazy enough, this doesn't even cover the post-Christmas meals cooked by friends or New Years Eve. Makes you want to throw on a pair of sweatpants right now, doesn't it? Call this blog post aversion therapy, but I'm off to go run a mile or count my daily intake of almonds so I can save room for next Christmas season.
 |
| Merry Christmas... to my gut - Photos by Wasabi Prime |
Monday, December 21, 2009
OMG a Recipe: Have an Om-Nom-Nommy Holiday
The Power of Cookie Monster compels you to OM NOM NOM NOM some baked goods for the holidays, and this year, the Prime strayed from her traditional iced sugar cookies to try out some newer recipes, several appropriately inspired by foodie bloggers. It's not too late to bake up a homemade gift of one of these delicious treats for a loved one. Don't forget to save at least one for yourself and a tall glass of milk! The 2009 Wasabi Prime holiday cookie roster included: Earl Grey Tea Cookies, Peppermint Sandwich Cookies, and the Prime's own mad-scientist creation of Peanut Chai Spice Cookies. Let the omming and nomming commence.
Okay, okay, so let's be totally honest: these "chocolate sandwich cookies" are clearly Oreo cookies. At the risk of MIB's from Nabisco's legal department swooping in with tranq guns and a "cease and desist," I'm going to call a spade a spade -- these little morsels are homemade Oreos, and that's that. They are also freakin' delicious. Baking during the holidays is not only a nice way to create lovely handmade gifts for others, they are a great way to try new recipes and come with an opportunity to cast these sinful treats out out of the house to others' tables. For realsies, I'd have eaten the whole lot of these guys, despite the near three sticks of butter it took to make a single batch. Be still my barely-beating heart.
The homemade peppermint Oreos were adapted from one of my favorite baking bloggers, Brown Eyed Baker, aka, the lovely Michelle, who always creates beautiful goodies and her site never fails to inspire and get me off my lazy baker bottom. Her recipe was originally adapted from Gourmet Magazine, and I added a holiday tweak to it, adding pulverized candy canes to the vanilla creme filling. To make this at home, please pay a visit to Ms. BBB's site to see her recipe.
Hers were of course perfect little gems with the elegant scalloped edges. I didn't roll out the dough for these, instead cutting the wafers from chilled logs of the mixed chocolate dough. You don't get the pretty decorative edges, but I'll admit, I was on a short time schedule that day, and dough logs make for quick circular cookie shapes. I used up the extra time going totally medieval on three candy canes, going through two plastic baggies while wielding a meat mallet to reduce them to a sandy consistency ensuring the filling's consistency would stay smooth during spreading.
Yes, the ever-present Miss Indy watched on, with a look of cookie-longing throughout the several days' worth of holiday baking. The power of Cute was strong with this one, but the Prime does not give in, as Indy's vet would most certainly not approve. Although I was almost tempted to share a bit of an Earl Grey Tea Cookie with the pup, as it's not as heavy of a cookie as the decadent peppermint Oreos.
I was forwarded this recipe from a friend; it was originally on The Kitchn's site. You can take a look at their recipe here. A beautifully light-flavored dough, speckled with bits of Earl Grey tea leaves, it bakes into crisp little wafers that are perfect to enjoy with tea or coffee. The dough is mixed in a food processor to both pulverize the leaves and gradually incorporate the ingredients. I have baked this cookie with other teas like a spicy chai and I've found that the stronger tea flavors hold up best during the baking process. We drink a lot of the Stash teas at home, and I tried incorporating my favorite tea, lemon ginger, in a batch of these cookies, but the flavor just got lost in the oven's heat. If you decide to give this recipe a try and want to swap out the tea, definitely go big with the tea flavor.
The last cookie to share is somewhat of a Wasabi Prime original. Inspired by the use of tea in cookies and a craving for the childhood favorite of fork-smooshed peanut butter cookies, Peanut Chai Spice Cookies were born.
Possessing all the familiar flavors of peanut butter cookies, these have the added warmth of chai leaves. It wasn't any particularly fancy or expensive tea -- just a few bags of Stash's chai were torn open and the contents were mixed right into the dough. The warm cinnamon flavors mixed nicely with the rich peanut butter, and a dash of cayenne pepper is also added for a subtle hint of heat. People get nervous or confused when an element of spice heat is added to desserts, but I hope this is soon overcome, because it can be a really pleasant nuance that just adds something beyond straight sweetness. As a visual reminder that these aren't the typical peanut butter cookie, a light sprinkle of paprika was added right before baking, to give a slight rouge to each cookie. I was pleased with the final result, as it was both sweet, savory, and had multiple flavors to keep the cookie interesting beyond just the straight sugar rush.
Wasabi Prime's Peanut Chai Spice Cookies
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup crunchy peanut butter (preferably unsweetened)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 teabags' worth of chai (approx 2 1/2 tablespoons)
1 tsp cayenne powder
Paprika powder to dust tops of cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix softened butter and brown sugar together until combined and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract, chai, baking soda and cayenne. Add the peanut butter and mix until fully incorporated. Slowly add flour to dough until it's fully mixed, but do not overbeat. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to firm slightly before using a spoon or cookie scoop to place rows of dough balls on parchment-lined or silicone mat-covered baking sheets. Use a fork dipped in flour to create the criss-cross pattern that flattens dough balls slightly. Dust each cookie with some paprika before placing in oven. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tops are golden and the bottoms are slightly browned. Set cookies on cooling racks until fully set, and give them away before you eat them in one sitting, because that will totally, totally happen.
An extra-special thanks to Mr. Wasabi, as I was very, very, very glad (emotionally so!) to have gotten the early Christmas present of a new camera recently. I'd been wanting a DSLR for a while, and this very special gift is something we will both use. So, no, it's not like the bowling ball Homer Simpson got for Marge that said "Homer" on it. This post is a mix of photos from both the new camera and the Old Faithful point-and-shoot that has been my stalwart blog companion for almost a year; I look forward to more photographic adventures for Year 2 of the Prime. Much love and thanks to Mr. Wasabi (aka Brock), as his thoughtfulness, love and support have been the greatest gifts, all year-round.
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| Homemade peppermint Oreo cookies , twist-tested, taste-approved. Photo by Wasabi Prime |
Okay, okay, so let's be totally honest: these "chocolate sandwich cookies" are clearly Oreo cookies. At the risk of MIB's from Nabisco's legal department swooping in with tranq guns and a "cease and desist," I'm going to call a spade a spade -- these little morsels are homemade Oreos, and that's that. They are also freakin' delicious. Baking during the holidays is not only a nice way to create lovely handmade gifts for others, they are a great way to try new recipes and come with an opportunity to cast these sinful treats out out of the house to others' tables. For realsies, I'd have eaten the whole lot of these guys, despite the near three sticks of butter it took to make a single batch. Be still my barely-beating heart.
The homemade peppermint Oreos were adapted from one of my favorite baking bloggers, Brown Eyed Baker, aka, the lovely Michelle, who always creates beautiful goodies and her site never fails to inspire and get me off my lazy baker bottom. Her recipe was originally adapted from Gourmet Magazine, and I added a holiday tweak to it, adding pulverized candy canes to the vanilla creme filling. To make this at home, please pay a visit to Ms. BBB's site to see her recipe.
Hers were of course perfect little gems with the elegant scalloped edges. I didn't roll out the dough for these, instead cutting the wafers from chilled logs of the mixed chocolate dough. You don't get the pretty decorative edges, but I'll admit, I was on a short time schedule that day, and dough logs make for quick circular cookie shapes. I used up the extra time going totally medieval on three candy canes, going through two plastic baggies while wielding a meat mallet to reduce them to a sandy consistency ensuring the filling's consistency would stay smooth during spreading.
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| Baking under the watchful eye of Miss Indy D. Pupple - Photos by Wasabi Prime |
Yes, the ever-present Miss Indy watched on, with a look of cookie-longing throughout the several days' worth of holiday baking. The power of Cute was strong with this one, but the Prime does not give in, as Indy's vet would most certainly not approve. Although I was almost tempted to share a bit of an Earl Grey Tea Cookie with the pup, as it's not as heavy of a cookie as the decadent peppermint Oreos.
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| Cookie, Earl Grey, hot. Photo by Wasabi Prime |
I was forwarded this recipe from a friend; it was originally on The Kitchn's site. You can take a look at their recipe here. A beautifully light-flavored dough, speckled with bits of Earl Grey tea leaves, it bakes into crisp little wafers that are perfect to enjoy with tea or coffee. The dough is mixed in a food processor to both pulverize the leaves and gradually incorporate the ingredients. I have baked this cookie with other teas like a spicy chai and I've found that the stronger tea flavors hold up best during the baking process. We drink a lot of the Stash teas at home, and I tried incorporating my favorite tea, lemon ginger, in a batch of these cookies, but the flavor just got lost in the oven's heat. If you decide to give this recipe a try and want to swap out the tea, definitely go big with the tea flavor.
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| The Spice must flow... into these cookies. Photo by Wasabi Prime |
The last cookie to share is somewhat of a Wasabi Prime original. Inspired by the use of tea in cookies and a craving for the childhood favorite of fork-smooshed peanut butter cookies, Peanut Chai Spice Cookies were born.
Possessing all the familiar flavors of peanut butter cookies, these have the added warmth of chai leaves. It wasn't any particularly fancy or expensive tea -- just a few bags of Stash's chai were torn open and the contents were mixed right into the dough. The warm cinnamon flavors mixed nicely with the rich peanut butter, and a dash of cayenne pepper is also added for a subtle hint of heat. People get nervous or confused when an element of spice heat is added to desserts, but I hope this is soon overcome, because it can be a really pleasant nuance that just adds something beyond straight sweetness. As a visual reminder that these aren't the typical peanut butter cookie, a light sprinkle of paprika was added right before baking, to give a slight rouge to each cookie. I was pleased with the final result, as it was both sweet, savory, and had multiple flavors to keep the cookie interesting beyond just the straight sugar rush.
Wasabi Prime's Peanut Chai Spice Cookies
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup crunchy peanut butter (preferably unsweetened)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 teabags' worth of chai (approx 2 1/2 tablespoons)
1 tsp cayenne powder
Paprika powder to dust tops of cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix softened butter and brown sugar together until combined and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract, chai, baking soda and cayenne. Add the peanut butter and mix until fully incorporated. Slowly add flour to dough until it's fully mixed, but do not overbeat. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to firm slightly before using a spoon or cookie scoop to place rows of dough balls on parchment-lined or silicone mat-covered baking sheets. Use a fork dipped in flour to create the criss-cross pattern that flattens dough balls slightly. Dust each cookie with some paprika before placing in oven. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tops are golden and the bottoms are slightly browned. Set cookies on cooling racks until fully set, and give them away before you eat them in one sitting, because that will totally, totally happen.
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| Homemade gifts baked with love... and butter. - Photos by Wasabi Prime |
An extra-special thanks to Mr. Wasabi, as I was very, very, very glad (emotionally so!) to have gotten the early Christmas present of a new camera recently. I'd been wanting a DSLR for a while, and this very special gift is something we will both use. So, no, it's not like the bowling ball Homer Simpson got for Marge that said "Homer" on it. This post is a mix of photos from both the new camera and the Old Faithful point-and-shoot that has been my stalwart blog companion for almost a year; I look forward to more photographic adventures for Year 2 of the Prime. Much love and thanks to Mr. Wasabi (aka Brock), as his thoughtfulness, love and support have been the greatest gifts, all year-round.
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