[Cookie 050] Iced Hermits

Drumroll, please.

Sound the alarms. Stop the presses.

Hire a couple of flying acrobats and white bengal tigers while you're at it, too. And one or two sword-swallowers wouldn't hurt either (well, maybe for them it would).

Yes--it's here. The big five-oh! 50 cookies! Done! Baked! Eaten! Reviewed! Blogged! Remembered! Honored!

But let's not make this a bragging festival. I'm just excited, that's all. After 50 cookies, I'm even more intent on completing this whole adventure in cookery, and I can't wait to bake all 125 I have left (and now that I've typed out "125" I realize that 50 cookies isn't really that many...uh oh). Anyway, I'm so into this. I can't wait to see how the others turn out.

And another thing. You guys. Readers. Friends, amigos, pals. I think it's pretty swell that you read my blog, I really do. I am continually surprised that people do, in fact--but that's not me fishing for compliments, honest! I love you all! And you've seriously taught me load of new stuff about baking along the way. All your tips and comments make a huge difference, and though I am terrible at responding to them, you better believe that I read each and every one of them, savoring them almost as much as I savored eating the 50th cookie I made from The Book.

I am referring to, of course, these Iced Hermits (how'd ya like that for a seamless transition between topics)! Yeah, I spent a good long while trying to pick out the perfect recipe to celebrate this milestone, and in the end, I have no idea why I chose these. Partly because I wanted to make the Rum Balls but didn't have any rum, and partly because these had peaked my interest. And partly because in my art history class we've been obsessing over Jackson Pollock.

See? Look! It's "Autumn Rhythm"! Ahaha! Okay, sorry for the terrible, awful, art-nerd joke. I remember when I shouted it out after drizzling the delicious icing over the uncut cookies, and my friends seriously died. And not out of laughter--it was more of a cringe-induced death. Terrible.

Anyways, I digress. These cookies actually totally deserve the title of 50th cookie. They are fantastically delicious. Absolutely perfect for fall/winter, easy to make, look great, store well, and taste fantastic (especially after you store them away for a few days--like a hermit!). The ginger-flavor deepens after a day or so, and because of the huge amount of molasses and brown sugar, the cookies stay soft and chewy for a good long while. I bet they'd ship pretty well too, so keep that in mind for the holidays I guess.

So, in conclusion, a toast the 50 down, 125 to go. Cheers!

Iced Hermits

Makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for baking sheet
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped candied ginger, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole milk, plus more if needed
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar, plus more if needed

Directions

1. Make bars: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheet. Line bottom with parchment paper, and butter parchment; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and cloves in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg and yolk, and molasses. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Mix in 1/2 cup candied ginger and the raisins.
3. Spread dough evenly onto prepared baking sheet. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until firm, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool completely in baking sheet on a wire rack.
4. Make icing: Put brown sugar, milk, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until butter has melted and sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla and confectioners sugar. If icing is too thick to drizzle, stir in more milk, a teaspoon at a time. If icing is too thin, stir in more confectioners sugar, a teaspoon at a time. Let cool slightly.
5. Drizzle bars with icing; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup candied ginger. Let stand until icing has set, about 15 minutes. Cut into 2-inch squares. Bars can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 3/5 (Spreading out the dough on the cookie sheet is a little annoying, but just be diligent! It is worth it!)
Ingredient Accessibility: 2.5/5
Tastiness: 5/5 (Yeah, I went there--the big 5 for the big 5-0)
Attractiveness: 4/5
Is it worth it?: Yessir!

{Pairings}
Drink: I bet they would be great with some Chamomile or Rooibos Tea

Song: Back to the Sea -- The Sandwitches
Activity: Celebrating my success.

[Cookie 049] Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

Happy late Halloween. Notice, no exclamation mark after that sentence. Nope, it doesn't get one. Halloween, for me, was thoroughly mediocre. Not to be a downer, but it rained--probably because I was dressed as a rain cloud--and I had a headache, and my knee hurt. Yeah yeah, bitch bitch bitch...it's just that I always have such high expectations for this holiday. But upon reflection throughout this first week of November, I realized that the main thing that made me love Halloween so much was all the fun I used to have trick-or-treating in my neighborhood back home. I trick-or-treated for a good 18 (or so) years of my life. Do the math. That's up until my senior year of high school.

Don't judge me. It's not like I went alone or anything!

Anyway, in the years since I have come to college, Halloween has been less than spectacular, and I think it's because of the lack of trick-or-treating. I mean seriously, screw the parade (especially when the cops won't let you watch it from the roof of an apartment!). And screw sub-par dance parties. I just want candy.

Or these cookies. I could easily settle for a pillow-case full of these Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing in lieu of a bag full of SweetTarts and Tootsie Rolls (however, I'm not sure I would exchange them for a bag full of Reese's Peanut Butter cups...that's a decision that would take some serious thinking-over).

But honestly, these cookies are great. And I made them into adorable little mummies (with the help of my friends, who are far better cookie decorators than me). I mean seriously, just look at them. Precious. Delicious. They're soft and puffy, and most importantly pumpkin-y! The icing is good too, but mine didn't come out tasting enough like browned butter, so maybe I should have browned the butter more. Either way, though, they're really yummy and perfect for Thanksgiving, since Halloween isn't for another 357 days.

Psst! How much do you love our fabulous collection of cans?! Check out the ham!! Premium!

Also, they are dead easy, so you have no reason not to make them! They do require evaporated milk, which is something I've never used before, but it's used just like regular milk. I halved the recipe since I didn't want to use up all my flour, so I had half a can of pumpkin left over and half a can of evaporated milk--and used them to make Martha's Pumpkin Custard! Yeah! Vive la citrouille! (That's French for the word pumpkin, for you fancy folk.)

So, in conclusion, next year I am going to go trick-or-treating as a 20 year old. And my friends and I figured out how to avoid angry glares from parents doling out candy to far cuter, younger kids in costume--dress up as ghosts with sheets obscuring our faces! GENIUS! I'll just have to walk on my knees, that's all. All in the name of sugar, though, so it's obviously worth it.

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

Makes about 6 dozen

Ingredients

• FOR THE COOKIES
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• FOR THE ICING
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk,
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make cookies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.
3. Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.
4. Make icing: Put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners' sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 3/5 (Just make sure you don't burn the butter for the icing!)
Ingredient Accessibility: 3/5 (Just the evaporated milk, but you can find that at any supermarket)
Tastiness: 4/5
Attractiveness: 3.5/5 (Googly eyes help...a lot)
Is it worth it?: Yep!

{Pairings}
Drink: Spiced apple cider!

Song: My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion -- The Flaming Lips
Activity: Whipping up a few dozen cornucopia a la Martha S. for your Thanksgiving feast...KIDDING! Even I have to draw the line somewhere between cuteness and insanity.

[Cookie 048] White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Okay, look. Let's get this straight. It's not all glamour and glitz around here. Sure, last entry's cookie was all dolled up and fancy, but sometimes I want an ugly cookie that tastes way better than it looks. You know, like the Steve Buscemi of the cookie world--pretty fantastic (for the most part), but definitely not a sight for sore eyes (I just finished watching The Big Lebowski last night, and Fargo a few nights before, so you'll have to excuse me for that seemingly completely out of the blue reference). Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that sometimes when a delicious cookie is actually one of the uglier, less appealing ones you've made, it makes the cookie taste even better.

Let me elaborate. As you can see from the photos, this cookie has no eye-catching decorations (like swirls of peanut butter), no beautiful colors (like a chocolate so dark it looks black), and no shape whatsoever (like a perfect, cookie-scoop shaped circle). But this cookie is seriously delicious. Like, really really really good. And the fact that such a homely cookie can be so fabulous just rocks my world.

Let's talk specifics, yes? This cookie, aside from being extremely tasty in its own right, has just about every ingredient in it known to humans. Oats--check. White chocolate--check. Raisins--check. Coconut--check. Walnuts--check. Plus all your other standard drop cookie components. So when it comes to combining all these tasty add-ins to the cookie dough, you better make sure you have a big mixing bowl and big biceps because this ain't easy. I found it easiest to add each ingredient one at a time (white chocolate chunks, then raisins, then walnuts...) because that way I wouldn't spill too much over the edges of my ever-so-slightly-too-small Pyrex mixing bowl. Once you manage to mix it all together, however, you're in the home stretch. Just plop the dough onto your baking sheet and stick it in the oven. And make sure you don't use a cookie scoop for this one...I think you can figure out why!

So, right. Back to my Steve Buscemi reference. But first, let me back track a bit and explain to you something else. White chocolate is a rather controversial ingredient, at least in my book, because I view it as more or less a travesty to the name of chocolate. It is not chocolate. No. And I resent it being put in the same category as its far more delicious truly cacao-derived cousin. But the one exception I can make for using white chocolate is in cookies like this. When it's put in cookies, white chocolate becomes that extra flavor that makes the cookie exactly what should be. It's like Steve Buscemi's teeth (bare with me). Completely taken out of context, he has a pretty wacked out set of choppers; but Steve Buscemi without his teeth just wouldn't be half as grand, am I right? Amiright?!

Anyways, I digress. The point is, this cookie is spectacular and I hope that you actually aren't even reading this entry anymore but have skipped down to the recipe and have already preheated your oven and set your butter out to thaw. If not, do it now. And while you wait for your oven to warm up, pop in Ghostworld and get some Steve Buscemi/Thora Birch/Scarlet Johansson action. Or Reservoir Dogs and get some violent, "you just shot my ear off!" action. Whatever your style...

White Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups good-quality white chocolate chunks
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (about 4 ounces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time until combined. Stir in vanilla.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Gradually stir into butter mixture until combined. Stir in oats, chocolate, coconut, raisins, and walnuts.
3. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. Bake cookies until golden, 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 2.5/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 2/5 (You'll probably have to make a trip to the supermarket, but nothing is difficult to find)
Tastiness: 4.5/5 (I am still drooling)
Attractiveness: 1/5 (Fugly. But don't judge a book by its cover!)
Is it worth it?: Yes. Yes. Yes.

{Pairings}
Drink: Hot Cocoa, to get your real chocolate fix.

Song: The White Whale -- Beirut
Activity: The Big Lebowski? Fargo? Reservoir Dogs? Ghostworld? You get where I'm going with this, right?

[Cookie 047] Surprise Cookies

Hallelujah my midterms are OVER! It might sound odd, but this was the first time in over a year that I've taken any form of an examination in college. But I guess that's what you get for being a studio art major and putting up with all the critiques and other art school forms of madness. Anyway, I had my first college test EVER in Logic--yeah, it's like that whole "if a=b, and b=c, then a=c" thing but harder, for the most part--and I studied my butt off and it actually felt kind of good. Nevermind how I actually faired with my results...the point is, I studied intensively with my friends and still made time to produce some midterm-worthy study snacks.

Okay, every day it's becoming more and more apparent that my life is this:

And I think I'm okay with that. The more I think of it, the more I realize that I really just want to open up a bakery/coffee shop/place that also sells things that I (hypothetically) make. It's times like when I make these Surprise Cookies that I think to myself: Hey, someone might buy something like this, and if you wrap it up all purdy and cutesy, maybe you could even make a little bit of profit! According to my now logically-honed mind, that sounds pretty logical, right? Cookies = delicious, delicious = buy me some, cookies = buy me some? Eh...perhaps.

Anyway, I'm sure you are here for the cookie recipe, not my musings on my uncertain future, so I'll cut to the chase. These are wild-wild (I think they say that in Texas, right Emily?). An intense chocolate cookie is one thing, and a toasted marshmallow is another, but when they collide and are fused together by a chocolate frosting, that's when you need to go out and buy another 6 gallons of milk.

When dark dark chocolate collides with white white sugar...

There was a point, however, when I thought that maybe the frosting made the cookies too intense to eat. Now, I rarely come to that conclusion, in part because I pride myself on my ability to eat nearly any type of cookie, and in part because I am of the belief that chocolate can do no wrong in any amount. But the frosting is quite sugary when first spooned on top of the marshmallow, and my friends and I weren't really diggin' it. But, loyal to the ways of The Book, I faithfully frosted the cookies, and I'm glad I did. After the frosting is 100% set, the cookie is not as sweet and they are far more edible and enjoyable. So if you can hold off for a short while, I advise doing so. You could always run to the supermarket and buy all that milk you'll need.

In conclusion, these cookies are delicious. And really fun to make. And really fun to eat. And really fun to whip up instead of studying about universal quantifiers. So if you are either 1) looking for a great cookie to make with/for kids, 2) looking for a great cookie to make for yourself, 3) looking for a great way to procrastinate on studying for midterms, or 4) hungry, you should make these! Soft, decadent, and adorable. I think I've logically proven my argument, no? No need to construct a truth-table or assign variables to schema--I know I'm right.

Surprise Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally
• For Frosting (makes 1 cup):
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined.
3. Using a tablespoon or 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 10 to 12 minutes.
4. Remove baking sheets from oven, and place a marshmallow, cut-side down, in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven, and continue baking until marshmallows begins to melt, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
5. Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting over each marshmallow, starting in the center and continuing outward until marshmallow is covered.
6. To Make Frosting: Place confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in butter and cocoa powder. Add milk and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 3/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 2.5/5
Tastiness: 4/5 (I might not be the most child-friendly person, but I'm sure that these would be an especially big hit with the 12 and unders)
Attractiveness: 4.5/5 (Seriously, look at them. Precious)
Is it worth it?: Yes. And slicing the marshmallows and pressing them into the half-baked cookies is quite fun too.

{Pairings}
Drink: Remember the 6 gallons of milk I had you buy?

Song: Sweet Head -- David Bowie
Activity: Curlin up by the fire.

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P.S. I'm starting to think that my blog is getting a little stale. I'd love to hear you thoughts/ideas of things I could do to spice it up!

P.P.S. I'm entering my dorms Halloween Cookie Contest--wish me luck!

P.P.P.S. [Cookie 050] is approaching...get ready!!!

[Cookie 046] Chewy Molasses Crinkles

Sorry about the absence again, I'm a total flake. Well, actually, I left my USB cable at my friend's house so all of my cookie photos were locked in captivity on my camera. Excuses excuses, I know. Good news is I have a lot to post now, so get ready for me to flood your RSS feeders!

So anyway, a week or so ago it got pretty chilly here in New York--as in, down to the mid-40s during the day. I got very excited at the notion of being able to bake spicey, wintery cookies; the ones that while in the oven make your kitchen smell totally divine and cozy. I don't know if it's just me, but I never want to bake that kind of cookie in the heat of the summer. Usually, I reserve the fruity cookies for the summer, and save all the spice-laden ones for the dead of winter, but maybe that's just because that's what all the recipe books tell you to do. Whatever, enough analyzing. So I jumped right in with this recipe for Chewy Molasses Crinkles, is what I'm trying to say. Bought me some Molasses and got to work.

And I was very happy with the end results. The recipe is dead easy and makes an amazing cookie dough to pick at. I made the terrible mistake of leaving the dough to refrigerate for an entire day, and though this made no effect on the outcome of the cookies, I had substantially less dough than when I had put it in the refrigerator to begin with. Meaning: I have sneaking, savage roommates that have to have their fingers in every pie/cookie dough.

Fortunately, the recipe makes a completely massive amount of cookie dough, so you can either make monster sized cookies (who doesn't love that?) or you can make a million medium sized ones (also excellent) or you can eat a bunch of the dough (even better, but could leave you feeling nauseous). I chose options 2 and 3.

One qualm: They weren't very chewy. Well, if you underbake them, which I did, and eat them within the hour after pulling them out of the oven, they are chewy. But by the next day, they are 100% crunchy. I'm sure you can remedy this, but my roommates and I end up eating cookies so fast that preservation is a total joke.

So, to kick off the cooler months ahead (I am so ready to bust out my ugly Chewbacca winter coat), make these cookies. But if it's still warm where you are, they would make a totally delicious ice-cream sandwich if you put a scoop of vanilla or even ginger ice cream in between two. Now, go!

Chewy Molasses Crinkles

Makes about 2 dozen (but I got about twice that much...)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon course salt

Directions

1. Put butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 c granulated sugar in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time, followed by the molasses and oil.
2. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt. Cover dough with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 325 F. Put remaining 1/4 c granulated sugar in a bowl. Using a 1 3/4 inch ice cream scoop, form balls of dough. Roll balls in sugar to coat, and space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are flat and centers are set, about 17 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.

****

{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 1/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 3.5/5
Tastiness: 3.5/5 (A tad boring to be honest...)
Attractiveness: 3.5/5
Is it worth it?: If you want a molasses cookie, you'll get exactly what you're looking for.

{Pairings}
Drink: Apple cider, maybe? Ginger tea? Milk? Milk Tea? Ginger apple cider milk tea? (That's sounds gross, I apologize...)

Song: Winter is Blue -- Vashti Bunyan
Activity: Something cozy...baking these while wearing your favorite wooly knitted socks?