2008 - That Darned Dough

Darn that dough! The Vanilla-Bean Butter Cookies dough, to be specific. 

I loved it yesterday (Dec. 15), when I made it. It was light and creamy and flecked with ebony vanilla seeds. A sight to behold! After I added the flour, it was a bit crumbly, like shortbread. I had to pull it together and shape it into disks, which went into the fridge overnight. 

When I rolled it out today, though, it kept cracking or sticking. Cracking because it was too cold; and sticking as I put pressure on it. Once rolled out into a rectangle, it needs to be put in the freezer for 20 minutes before cutting. Then the cutouts would stick to the cutter, or break when I tried to poke them out. 

What's worse — I used a snowflake cutter. Even after religiously dipping it in flour, I still wound up prying loose each little delicate snowflake arm with the blunt end of a wooden skewer. I don't know why I didn't just use a star, as the recipe suggests. Or a round biscuit cutter! Mom suggested rolling the dough into logs and slicing the cookies (since they lose their shape anyway). I might give that a try.  

Vanilla-Bean cookies take forever too because they have to go back into the freezer again for 10 to 20 minutes after being cut out. It took practically all day to make four dozen. 

After all that, the dough spread in the oven (despite going in the freezer again before baking) and the snowflakes wound up looking like swollen, puffy flowers.

But ... they were absolutely delicious! So tender and buttery and perfect tasting. They practically melt in your mouth, so I was ready for another one immediately. I will be making them again, despite my complaints. I'm sure they will go faster and look better with practice and a few tweaks. But their taste needs no improvement whatsoever.

Vanilla-Bean Butter Cookies

1 c butter, softened

1 1/2 c powdered sugar

3 vanilla beans, split lengthwise

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2  1/2 c flour, sifted

1/4 tsp salt

colored dragées

sanding sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar. Scrape in vanilla seeds. Beat on high until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add egg and vanilla; beat to combine.

Add flour and salt, beat on low till incorporated.

Divide dough into half; flatten into disks. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. On lightly floured surface, roll out disks to 1/4-inch thickness. Place dough on separate baking sheets and chill in freezer for 20 minutes.

Line baking sheets with parchment. Using 2-inch star-shaped cutter, cut out stars. Place a dragée in center of each star; sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Freeze until firm, 10 to 20 minutes.

Bake until golden, rotating sheets halfway through, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 

2007 - Bake All Day, Frost All Night

First thing after I got Charlie off to school, I baked the Snicker Doodles that I whipped up yesterday (Dec. 4). A double batch yielded 8 1/2 dozen scrumptious cookies. I followed Lisa's directions, pressing the cinnamon-sugar-coated balls down with a glass. These cookies were far superior to the Pinwheels and I'll probably stick with these from here on out. My sister knew what she was talking about when it comes to cookies!

Overnight Cookies, with pecans.

Afterward, I sliced and baked the Overnight Cookies. Charlie was a little disappointed that I baked them while he was at school, but I had to get on with it. I wound up with 4 1/2 dozen (no nuts) and 4 dozen (with nuts). 

Production zone! 

Then I went for Charlie, made supper and bought some gingerbread house cookie cutters on eBay. I also got some gingerbread boy and girl cutters in the mail yesterday, but now I don't know where I've stashed them!

Sugar Cookie cutouts.

I started frosting Sugar Cookies after Charlie went up to bed; I was up till midnight. I had such a back ache. It was all worth it when Charlie came down in the morning, though. He made his selections to take in his packed lunch for the Pantomime. He wanted one of each shape! Of course he did.

Sugar Cookies waiting to set.

2003 - Baking Central

How a Kolacky should look.

It felt like Baking Central around here today, Dec. 9. I planned to start as soon as I woke up but I discovered that Mom was out of parchment paper (which I required for Kolacky because they can be quite messy). Once she returned from Kroger, I started on the Snickerdoodle Pinwheels. All I had to do was slice and bake, since I had made the dough and formed the logs yesterday. I cranked out seven dozen of those spicy, swirly goodies, which I will make again. I wondered if they were going to be worth it — they are! I especially like the way they look.

Mom chipped in and helped me do the Kolacky. These remind me of little pies because they have a simple, cream-cheese dough that you fill with preserves or pie filling. We used raspberry jam on four dozen and peach preserves on the other five dozen. Mom put up a card table in the kitchen and we had a regular assembly line going.

The only problem was that some of the Kolacky would open up. We never could figure out why — we were convinced that they were all sealed when we put them in the oven but the odd one would pop open! Of course, it didn't affect the taste — they're so delicious. I used a bona fide diamond-shaped cookie cutter too. In the past, I've made due with a circular one, which is fine, but the recipe says to use a diamond. The diamond cutter was from my new set that Mom surprised me with — 101 cookie cutters! I looked through them like a kid inspecting Halloween candy after a night of trick-or-treating. I can't wait to try them all out. Thanks, Mom!

1994 - And We're Off!

Shopping assistants, Danielle , on the left,
 and Michelle, flank their mother.
That's their baby sister, Rachel, in the center. 

We decided to get a jump on our joint "Christmas vacations" this year and start baking on Saturday, Dec. 3. But we didn't exactly get a jump on the day because we didn't get moving until 1 p.m. And even then, we didn't have our supplies. So, I shopped with Lisa's oldest girls, Michelle and Danielle, while Lisa got us organized in the kitchen.

Armed with $50 worth of ingredients, we were all set to begin with Sugar Cookies. Unfortunately, Lisa couldn't find her "Joy" cookbook and mine was at home. After searching the kitchen, Lisa asked the girls if they had seen it. Danielle recalled that Mike (Lisa's husband) had been reading it in the bathroom! (He was looking for ways to cook oysters.) After spraying it with Lysol, we were ready to roll. Until it was time to roll the dough — no rolling pin! This time Michelle was responsible — Lisa found it in her room! We still haven't figured that one out...

What we learned:

Remember to use 1 teaspoonful of nutmeg in a double batch of Sugar Cookies. They're hard to time for doneness; we wound up judging by sight, touch and smell. I didn't like the angel cutters because I didn't really know how to decorate them, apart from spreading them with white icing (but the girls did). Lisa also lost her trusty star cutter but we found the wreath (no more makeshifts with glasses and jars). We also used a lovely holly leaf, the old star, a tree, and a snowman (whose darned scarf kept breaking off!). 

Make two double batches for approximately 11 dozen cookies. We decided to frost and decorate them the next day to give our backs a break.

1993 - Ode to Joy!

My poor, battered copy of "Joy of Cooking"
has seen better days. My friend
Janet's mom called her copy her Bible.

Our Sugar Cookies were perfect, as usual. We used a "Joy" recipe called Rich Roll Cookies but we replaced the cinnamon with nutmeg, as per Lisa's experience and preference. We used Betty Crocker creamy deluxe sour cream frosting.

This year, we used three shapes: trees, stars and wreaths. We used cookie cutters for the trees and stars. But we had to improvise for the wreaths. We used a drinking glass for the wreath shape, and a jar that held the nonpareils to cut out the centers. We had some cute star-shaped decorations for the stars; and sprinkles and nonpareils for the trees. We used little red-hots on the wreaths (even though we don't like to eat them - they look good!). We had 10 dozen to split between us.

Note for next year: It's best to make these first because they are so time-consuming.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream:
1 c butter

2/3 c sugar

Beat in:

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Combine and add:

2 1/2 c sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Chill dough 3 to 4 hours before rolling.

Roll and cut into shapes.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly colored.

Yield: about 5 dozen