2000 - Cookie Crazy

I think I finished this year's baking on Sunday, Nov. 26 (unless I make some coffee-flavored cookies for Neil before he gets here Thursday from England). The Moravian Spice Cookies urned out really nice. They were a lot different from anything I've ever baked. I came up with about 18 dozen very thin cookies. Their aroma alone was worth all the effort.

Rolling the dough was a bit tricky for me. It kept tearing at the edges. And, as I said previously, Mom insisted on keeping the "scraps" to put on her ice cream. I baked them for 10 minutes total, instead of 14 as Martha advised.

Then I went ahead and made Dunkable Brownies, which are always fantastic (unless you mix together the wrong recipe, like I did earlier in the week!). A double batch produced about seven dozen of these glorious mounds. They are super good and very easy to make. I started today at noon and finished at 7:30 at night. This could be my last U.S. baking session but, since I'm pregnant this year, Mom decided to make a contribution. She was only going to make some PeeBees and some Coconut Macaroons but she went cookie crazy too! We'll need to set out two cookie trays to showcase everything.

She started with Peanut Butter Criss-Cross Cookies, using Grandma Baker's recipe. (Though she'll say she actually started the baking season with Pumpkin Bread.) She made four dozen medium-sized goldies that are dee-lish. I'll be using this recipe from now on (instead of "Joy of Cooking's") because they have a superior texture.

Next, she made Lemon-Honey Drop Cookies - except she converted it to orange. She got the recipe from the December issue of "Cooking Light" magazine. Also, she used orange marmalade in the glaze instead of orange zest. Yield: six dozen, and proclaimed a tasty success.

On the same day, she made Raspberry Strippers from the same magazine. However, we agreed that even though they came from "Cooking Light," there was not much light about either recipe. "These were so easy," se said. "You just divide the dough and roll it out into logs then use the handle of a wooden spoon to make long dents along each log to fill with jam." You get about two dozen per batch, so she doubled the recipe. Also, she used strawberry-rhubarb preserves (you could use any kind you want). They're worth making again.

Then Mom came down with the flu and couldn't bake or do much else for about a week, poor thing. When she recovered, she made Pineapple Cookies (maybe from Aunt Judy's recipe box, she said). She had to add extra flour because she found the dough to be more like batter. She glazed them with an icing made with confectioner's sugar, pineapple juice, brown sugar and maraschino cherries. I didn't much like them but I'll save the recipe, just in case. She wound up with nearly four dozen.

She made quite a contribution and our first tray, which we set out tonight (Dec. 8), looks very tempting and delicious. It also included some Sugar Cookies that Lisa baked. She started making bells and trees but switched to simple rounds when the dough wouldn't cooperate. She used only white frosting but a variety of colored sprinkles. They were just as good as always.

Parchment paper was my greatest discovery this year. The silpat is OK, especially for the Moravians, but the paper made everything SO much easier.

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Lisa wrote this year:

12-14-00

Magic Cookie Bars are a magically easy creation. Three 13 x 9-inch pans (one for you, one for me, one for the Meijer HBC Christmas Party).

Festive Fudge - So easy to prepare but my arm and shoulder still hurt from the stirring. Yield: two 8-inch pans=4 pounds. [This link is an Eagle Brand PDF recipe book; it includes the Magic Cookie Bars, above, and many other recipes worth perusing.]

German Chocolate Cake Cookies- Made using a dry cake mix. Easy but so messy in a chocolate-y way! Yield: four dozen.

Coconut Macaroons

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2 egg whites

3/4 c sugar

dash salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 c all-purpose flour

1 pkg (7 oz.) shredded, sweetened coconut

Line 2 cookie sheets with foil or parchment paper.

In medium bowl, mix egg whites, sugar, salt and vanilla. Add flour and stir until well blended. Fold in coconut.

Drop by teaspoonfuls about 1-inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake 15-20 minutes until edges are light brown. Cook on cookie sheets. Peel foil/paper from cookies. Makes about 28 cookies.

Grandma Baker's Criss-Cross Cookies

1 c peanut butter

1/2 c butter

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 c flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients.

In mixer bowl, cream together peanut butter and butter. Add sugars gradually and cream together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs and beat well. Stir in flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Chill dough, at least one hour.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. 

Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10 to 12 minutes.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

2000 - Solo Performance

Once again, our work schedules won't permit us to bake together this year. Since I had a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving, I got started solo on Friday, Nov. 24. Mom and I went shopping last Sunday for all the supplies. Lisa and I decided we would make our own Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, then she'll make Sugar Cookies (since they're the kids' faves), her Magic Cookie Bars and Fudge.

I started with Lime Meltaways. Since they have to be refrigerated, I got those (two batches) mixed up and logged to be stashed in the fridge until tomorrow. I love the smell of those fresh limes. I couldn't find The Cookie Diary for the recipe, but found it on Martha's website online.

Next, I started what I thought were Dunkable Brownies but were really Baker's One-Bowl Brownies. Again, I didn't have The Cookie Diary, so I went online for the recipe - but got the wrong one. I realized it when the dough just didn't look the same. I even tried it out as cookie dough, but it spread and flattened (but still tasted good!). Still, I couldn't go on knowing they were wrong, so I whipped out two of Mom's 8x8-inch aluminum pans and made two batches of Brownies. Since they were only going to take 35 minutes to bake, I started on the Toll House Cookies. I came up with 15 dozen (which I don't have to split!)

Mom's KitchenAid stand mixer was a godsend but my back was still killing me by the time I finished (mostly because I'm quite pregnant!). I baked from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. I listened to "Kevin's Christmas Favorites" and Patrick Stewart's "A Christmas Carol."

On Saturday, I didn't start till about noon, when I sliced my lime logs into coins to bake till their edges were golden brown. That was supposed to be 15 minutes a tray, but it was more like 11 in Mom's oven. No matter what a recipe says, always watch cookies carefully on the first tray to get the timing right. You can't under-bake Lime Meltaways either or they'll break when you coat them in powdered sugar. Parchment paper made cooling these babies a breeze (but they have to be coated while they're still warm). They smelled so good that I ate one off the first tray. Total yield was about 10 dozen, to be split with Lisa.

I had started to get the ingredients together for a new cookie, Moravian Spice Cookies, when I realized that we didn't have enough ground cloves. I had to make a dash to Kroger in the rain. When I got back, I mixed up the dough, then put the rectangles of dough into the fridge until the next day. Since the Lime Meltaways were already packed away in cupcake liners inside storage containers, they went into the freezer with the Toll Houses. Then I frosted the Brownies, let them set up, cut them into squares, let them set up in the freezer (so the frosting won't stick to the parchment paper they'll be wrapped in), then stowed them away too.

Here's the recipe for Moravian Spice Cookies, which I can no longer find in recipe form when I search Martha Stewart's site. However, she does boast a video of her making "The World's Thinnest Cookies." They are not the easiest cookies to make but I love them.

Moravian Cookies
5 c all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c molasses
1 c (1/2 pound) dark-brown sugar
1/2 c (1/4 pound) vegetable shortening, melted and cooled
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

In a large mixing bowl, sift together 1 c flour, spices, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the molasses and brown sugar; beat until well combined. Add the shortening and butter. On low speed, add the dry ingredients, a little at a time, to form a stiff dough.

Divide the dough in half. Place each half of the dough on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into a rectangle, and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Begin with one half of the dough, and divide the rectangle into quarters. Working on a lightly floured baking mat, roll out one of the quarters as thin as possible, until it's almost translucent, to completely cover the mat. Trim the edges, forming the dough into a perfect rectangle. Keep the remaining quarters refrigerated.

Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the rolled-out dough and the baking mat on a pan. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, and continue baking for 4 more minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven, and, using a cookie cutter, quickly stamp out as many as you can before the dough cools. Transfer the stamped-out cookies to a wire rack to cool. If dough becomes hard to stamp reheat it in the oven for 45 to 60 seconds, and continue stamping out the cookies. Repeat the process until all cookies have been stamped  out of the dough.

NOTE: Press the cookies down with your hand as you cut them out to keep them flat for easy stacking. Also, because the dough is baked, then the cookies are stamped out, you will have a ton of scraps. Keep them to sprinkle on your ice cream, like Mom does!

Christmas Cookies

Christmas cookies and happy hearts, This is how the holiday starts.

— Unknown 

12/12/12 - Daily Dozen

Today is the last repeating date of the century. I don't know how you intend to celebrate but that date says one thing to me: dozens! So I'll be getting my "daily dozen" with a workout in the kitchen.

After celebrating National Brownie Day this past Saturday with three varieties of brownies, I've decided to go in the opposite direction with Vanilla-Bean Butter Cookies. I've made these before and they are so delicate and flavorful that I'm determined to have some for Christmas to balance out all the chocolate selections I've already cranked out. Just because they're vanilla, they're in no way a dime a dozen, though. The three vanilla beans called for in this recipe don't come cheap anywhere but the taste delivers delicious dividends. (All that alliteration was for my pal, Greg!)

Most people aren't going to be able to make these cookies today without a trip to the shops but there are plenty of cookie recipes out there that are simple to make and boast a list of ingredients that you probably have in your cupboard on any given day.

No-Bake Cookies, for instance, are always a hit and they're so easy to make that, as kids, my sister and I were likely to whip up a batch at the drop of a silpat. They're very kid-friendly and quick, and you're bound to have everything on hand right now.

Or you can try Grandma Baker's Criss-Cross Cookies. I assume everyone always has peanut butter on hand for both of these cookies. I've used a "Joy of Cooking" Peanut Butter Cookies recipe too but this one is my favorite and I always have the ingredients in my pantry. But it's six of one and half a dozen of the other, no matter which recipe you choose.

Chocolate-y, crinkly therapy?

Another suggestion for cookies to make with ingredients you probably have at the ready are Grammy's Chocolate Cookies. They're a snap to make and you're rewarded with chocolate discs that are slightly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. They were featured in Martha Stewart's "Cookies" cookbook and their aroma alone will make any day feel special.

Baking cookies can be therapeutic, which can be as good for your chakra as a string of repeating numbers. Anyway, there's always 12/21/12 for additional spiritual awakening. 

What's more, if you bake cookies, you'll have a delicious snack ready for the Concert for Sandy Relief, which will be broadcast worldwide at 7:30 p.m. EST. The star-studded benefit for victims of the massive storm that recently devastated the northeast United States. For more information on where you can watch and how you can contribute, visit the link above. 

So please join me in the kitchen today and mark this milestone date with a few dozen cookies!

Vanilla-Bean Butter Cookies

1 c butter, softened

1 1/3 c powdered sugar

3 vanilla beans, split lengthwise

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 c flour, sifted

1/4 tsp salt

colored dragees (optional)

sanding sugar  (optional)

In bowl of stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, 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 in half and flatten into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill (at least 1 hour).

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

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

Grandma Baker's Criss-Cross Cookies

1 c peanut butter

1/2 c butter

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 c flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Cream together peanut butter and butter. Add sugars gradually and cream together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg and beat well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add sifted ingredients to batter and mix thoroughly. Chill dough in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen.

1999 - Short and Sweet

I had to go it alone this year because our work schedules weren't compatible. So, on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 4 and 5, I made eight dozen Peanut Butter Cookies and 12 dozen Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies. Then I made seven dozen Dunkable Brownies (they smelled too good not to sample immediately) and 11 dozen Lime Meltaways.

The Lime Meltaways are easy slice and bake cookies that are so light and fragrant, they became a quick favorite. It's nice to have a citrus cookie to offset all the chocolate too. They're covered in powdered sugar but the discs themselves aren't very sweet, so it's a winning combo. Just be careful when you shake them in the powdered sugar or you'll have to eat many, many casualties! Michelle was with me for these and she loved mixing the leftover lime juice with sugar for a refreshing limeade.

I gave Lisa half of everything and packed up some of mine to send to Neil in England. (I met him at the Breeders' Cup in Miami in November.) I also sent him some of Mom's Pumpkin Bread.

I wore my Christmas apron and played music but I missed Lisa, especially for the music and the pizza! I cried when Johnny Mathis came on singing "Sleigh Bells" because it reminded me of Dad. He always made fun of Mathis and sang, "Sleighb'lls." I miss him and his sense of humor so much.

Lisa made Magic Cookie Bars, a new entry that layers a mere five ingredients, including Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk into a luscious, but easy-to-make, bar. She also made fudge - chocolate and chocolate-peanut butter - which she shared, of course. I missed baking with her this year and I hope we can find time to get together next Christmas.

1998 - Judy, Judy, Judy!

Thursday was our last day of baking. We made 12 dozen Dunkable Brownies (don't mix double batches by hand, fools!). 

We also made 8 dozen Lime Meltaways, a recipe in Martha Stewart's Holiday magazine. We messed up one batch by somehow adding powdered sugar instead of corn starch! 

A week later, I drove Dad up to Bettsville, Ohio, to visit his relatives. We stayed at his sister, Judy's, house for a few days. He enjoyed it very much because he was surrounded with family and he enjoyed some of his favorite foods that he associated with home, including Sugar Pie and Rivels (a noodle and potato soup). Aunt Judy also had the traditional Baker favorites on her cookie platter: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Buckeyes, Whoopie Pies and more. He was extra tired, though, from all the medication he was on for his multiple myeloma.

One afternoon while he was napping, I brought out the Cookie Diary and a few of my cousins asked to read it. We flipped through the pages around the dining room table and had a few laughs. Aunt Judy copied her Buckeyes recipe into the diary for me and my cousin, Jill, added her recipe for No Bake Cookies. My sister and I had always called that School Fudge, and I didn't know what happened to my recipe so I was tickled to get Jill's version. And even though it wasn't a cookie recipe, I copied Aunt Judy's Sauerkraut Balls into the diary (there's that German heritage again!). I have yet to try them but they sounded yummy at the time.

Aunt Judy, Dad, Grandma Baker and Uncle Bobby, 1998.

It was a nice visit - Dad's last, as it turned out. And little did we know it would be his last Christmas as well.

Jill's No-Bake Cookies

2 c sugar
1 stick oleo (margarine)
4 T cocoa
1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c peanut butter
2 1/2 c oatmeal

Boil sugar, oleo, cocoa and milk for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, peanut butter and oats. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

Aunt Judy's Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (Buckeyes)

1 stick margarine (1/2 c)
2 c peanut butter
3 c powdered sugar
1 12-oz package chocolate chips

Mix first three ingredients together and roll into small balls. Place in refrigerator to chill.

Melt chocolate in double boiler (or microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes). Drop each peanut butter ball in chocolate to coat. Place on waxed paper to dry. Let cool and enjoy!

1998 - Cookie Nation

On Thursday, Dec. 3, we made Peanut Butter Cookies and Brownies Cockaigne. Again, we got off to a late start, but we finished with 20 dozen cookies and four pans of brownies. We used “Joy’s” recipe for both. The margarine might have softened too long for the second double batch of PeeBees but the golden disks were dee-lish! We packed the brownes in nice foil trays with plastic lids. “It’s a good thing.”

We took Friday “off” to go shopping for the girls. I spent a fortune! We resumed Tuesday with Sugar Cookies, for which we found gold and silver dragees and a frosting tip. We were going to do them Monday but i forgot the cutters, so we made 13 dozen Pumpkin Cookies (from “Joy” - hold the nuts and raisins). This time we drizzled them with frosting thinned with milk. Last year, they got stuck to the waxed paper. It was better this way, but it’s still not the answer.

We made two batches of Chex Party Mix for Lisa (I started making it before Thanksgiving!). I made a copy of my compilation tape, “Kevin’s Christmas Favorites,” for Lisa. She made 74 cupcakes for the girls’ various parties at school. Whew!

So Tuesday, we made 10 dozen Sugar Cookies. We baked and frosted on the same day. I argued for more but Lisa said, “NO!” I’m sure I turned out being right. They baked to a lovely golden color. We made wreaths, candy canes, stars, trees, bells and snowmen.

We took Wednesday off so I could go see the KISS concert in Lexington with my friend Angela. “I wanna rock and roll all night, and party every day!” More like bake every day!

KISS video

Angela doing her best Gene Simmons.

One more time!