Adventures in Food
Posts tagged cookies
The Bacon Game
Jul 21st
Photo credit: sappymoosetree
“Does anything not go with bacon?” my oldest daughter asked. We’d gotten into a lengthy discussion about whether the cannelloni I made that night would have been better with bits of smoky, crisp bacon instead of the Italian sausage that I’d used. The conclusion: bacon rules. And then my kids kept talking about what flavors meld well with bacon. (Sometimes we struggle to drag conversation out of our kids during dinner, except when it comes discussing food.)
See a few weeks ago on a whim I made chocolate-bacon cookies. They were tasty but the overall verdict is that next time I should add even more bacon than the three pieces I chopped fine and then added in the batch. Bacon’s been on the brain.
“I’ve got one–ice cream,” said my middle child, enthusiastically. Her dad was quick to point out that he’d tried a decadent apple-pie-bacon shake that proved her wrong.
“Cantalope?” said my youngest.
“Nope, bacon-wrapped cantalope can be really tasty.”
“But not watermelon…” offered my middle daughter.
“You got me on that one.” We decided that bacon wouldn’t pair well with ginger, mint or sushi, but it would fit with orange, eggs (of course!), apples, and alfredo sauce.
Who knew a discussion of bacon could become so interesting–ah the power of food. And bacon, I guess.
Do you want to play? What doesn’t go with bacon…
Zingy Orange Cookies
Jun 12th
I’ve been using the same lemon cookie recipe for years—and my kids have liked them. But then a friend dropped by her version of lemon cookies and my kids were hooked. Seriously. Even my middle child requested, yup, lemon cookies instead of chocolate chip when I asked her a few weeks back what kind of cookies she wanted. I thought I’d perfected her recipe until she dropped by the cookies again (isn’t it nice to have friends that bring you cookies?!). This time the cookies were bursting with a buzzy, sweet-tart orange flavor instead of just lemon. Orange cookies. I was impressed with her improvisation, and then she let me in on a secret—her husband decided to make the cookies and opted for orange instead of lemon.
Let me just say, I love pretty much any kind of cookie, but these ones taste like a yummy version of an orange breakfast roll. When we had a busy weekend, my mom would buy those refrigerated, canned orange rolls, you know the ones that pop when you undo the paper? They always seemed to turn out either underdone or burnt, but top it with some of the gooey orange cream cheese frosting and you didn’t care. These cookies channel all that orange gooeyness, but have a tastier, chewier texture (I mean, you can’t escape that processed flavor when your baked goods come popping out of a can!).
Along with packing a punch of orange flavor, these cookies are perfect for summer. Who wants a heavy chocolate chip cookie—or even oatmeal—when the weather is getting warmer and warmer? But orange cookies…yeah, you better make a double batch!
Recipe
Prep time: 30 minutes (+ cook time about 1 hour)
Servings: 20 cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
2 Cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon orange zest
2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice (or 1 ½ tablespoons orange + ½ Tablespoon lemon)
1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon almond extract
Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons orange zest
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 Tablespoon milk or heavy cream
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (you can refrigerate the dough for about an hour, but the cookies turn out well either way). In a large mixing bowl add the butter and then blend in the sugar at high speed with a handheld mixer. Whip until fully incorporated, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, blend. Mix in the extract and the fresh orange juice.
In another mixing bowl, stir all the dry ingredients until combined. Add the zest. Put the mixer on low speed and then gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
Lightly grease a baking pan and add the dough by the spoonful (about 1 ½ Tablespoon in size). Bake for about 9 to 11 minutes or until just barely golden around the edges. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the pan before removing them.
Once the cookies are cool, mix the glaze. Add all of the glaze ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until the ingredients are blended and the glaze is thick. Using a spoon add about ½ teaspoon glaze to each cookie. Let the glaze set for at least 30 minutes or more before serving.
Brownie Bacon Cookies—You know you want to try it!
May 17th
MMmmmm, brownie bacon cookies.
So we had a little bacon left over from BLT night, and of course I thought, Why not add it into cookies? The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds. I’d watched some Food Network show with my kids a while ago where they featured chocolate-dipped bacon served at some high-end restaurant. There’s something about adding a bit of smokiness and salt to chocolate that intrigued me (and my crew). Since then, I’ve been wondering how adding a some bacon to my favorite chocolate cookie recipe would go over.
My kids were game—in fact, my oldest has been bugging me for weeks to give the cookies a try ever since I mentioned the idea. You see at her middle school cafeteria table there’s a bit of a competition going to see who can bring in the most unusual—and tasty—foods. Last week one classmate brought in blueberry-banana smoothies in a couple of thermoses, while another girl brought Korean sushi and another treated the group to ribs. This is no typical middle school group—they’re a table of foodies-to-be. (Those who have the audacity to buy the cafeteria fare have to share their French fries with the group as penance.) She’s thrilled to take in the brownie bacon cookies to school (I think they’ll go over better than the spinach brownies, but we’ll see).
Now just how do you add bacon to cookies? I chose a cookie recipe with plenty of melted dark semi-sweet and then upped the chocolate flavor with some black onyx powder (I buy this at a local spice shop but you can substitute Espresso powder or even cocoa powder to get the same kick).
Chocolate bacon bits!
The recipe also calls for mini-chocolate chips. I never seem to have minis anyway, so I always use the food processor to crush down regular-sized chocolate chips. This time, I added the cooked bacon pieces to the processor first, gave it a few pulses and then added in the chocolate and pulsed until the chips were broken down and infused with bacon. I folded this mix into the dough as the last step before forming logs of cookie dough that went into the fridge.
Dough formed into logs, ready for the fridge.
The rest was easy—I cut the cookies and put them on baking sheets then played with some of the toppings. To some, I added pecans for extra texture; others got a dusting of raw sugar.
The cookies turned out perfectly shaped, nice crispness and without an overwhelming bacon flavor. Instead, the bacon adds a hint of earthiness to the cookie with the initial bite and then a stronger smoky flavor as an aftertaste. I was surprised my oldest daughter had a so-so reaction to the cookie, my middle daughter asked for seconds—and thirds (my youngest just asked for more Cheerios because that’s truly her favorite dessert anyway, but that’s another story). I would definitely make these cookies again to serve as an unusual dessert after a casual meal.
Recipe
Ingredients
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + ¾ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoons Espresso powder or Black Onyx powder (optional)
4 pieces fully cooked bacon
Directions
- In a large, glass measuring cup melt together the sugar, butter and 1 cup chocolate chips in the microwave. Heat at medium-power for 2 minutes, stir and then repeat in 30-second intervals or until the mixture becomes smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Add the egg and vanilla into the cooled chocolate mixture. Mix the dry ingredient into the chocolate mixture using a hand mixer at medium speed.
- In a small food processor, pulse the bacon slices a couple of times then add in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips. Pulse until the pieces become broken up to the size of mini-chocolate chips. Stir the chocolate-bacon bits into the dough.
- Divide the dough in half and form into two, 9-inch logs on wax paper. Roll the logs in the wax paper and store in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a sharp knife cut the cookies into 3/8” slices. Add these to a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 9 minutes or until the edges become just barely browned. Allow to cool a few minutes on the pan before removing. Eat! Our crew found that the cookies were much better on day two.
*Makes about 3 dozen savory-sweet cookies.
Olympic Gold Medal Cookies–Yum!
Feb 27th
Every four years bobsledding becomes cool—along with speed skating and a whole list of sports I would otherwise flip past versus sitting down to watch. Anyone else have Olympic fever? If not, what are you waiting for?
My children are now regularly talking about the South Korean team’s speed skating strategy against Apolo Ohno’s reserved, but winning approach (remember Ohno’s the one who always wears the bandana on his head and appeared on Dancing with the Stars?). Along with discussing whether Lindsey Vonn can still ski well after a crash on a downhill run. We’re watching (or rather DVR-ing) every minute. I’ve even noticed random Olympic mentions in conversations with my kids over the past week. “Mom, do you think the Flying Tomato (Shaun White’s least favorite nickname) will ever cut his hair?” or “If I practiced really hard could I go to the Olympics?”
Sure, the chances of one of my children becoming a world-class bobsledder are pretty slim, but I’m still doing everything I can to fill our house with a little Olympic spirit. To celebrate the games, we made gold medal cookies this week using a thick, puffy sugar cookie recipe. This recipe makes nearly six-dozen cookies, depending on how thick you make them. It’s a great recipe to feed a crowd and the cookies turn out soft and cakey. They’re akin to the Lofthouse cookies you find in the store.
Sugar cookies can have a fairly bland flavor unless you give them a boost. I add almond extract to both the batter and the frosting to give the cookies a kick. You can also add a little orange or lemon zest to give the cookies even more zing. We decorated our cookies with a creamy, butter-based frosting that we tried to make gold. I emptied the whole canister of non-toxic frosting gold dust trying to get a glistening look. Too bad the frosting only looked a bit more yellow, despite my efforts. My solution? My kids and I added some gold, decorative balls to the frosting at the end. These cookies are fun and easy to make with your crew—the perfect treat to have on hand while watching the final Olympic events this weekend. You can easily cut this cookie recipe in half—or even a third. But why not make plenty to share?
Here’s the medal-worthy cookie recipe:
My youngest enjoying her cookie
Simple, Puffy Sugar Cookies
Cream together:
3 cups sugar
1 Cup shortening
½ Cup Butter or margarine
3 eggs
2 cups milk
Add to creamed mixture:
3 T Baking powder
1 t salt
1 T vanilla
½-3/4 teaspoon almond extract
9 cups all-purpose flour
Mix well in a LARGE mixing dish. Once combined, divide dough in half and gently knead one half on a floured cutting board. Add more flour until the dough becomes slightly stiff. Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Refrigerate for at least one hour. Roll the dough out a little at a time to a ¼” thickness. Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for about 9 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven when just slightly browned. Frost when cool. Makes 5 ½ dozen 2 ½-inch cookies. I freeze the leftovers.
Easy, Creamy Cookie or Cupcake Frosting
Ingredients:
3 Sticks margarine or butter, softened
9 cups powdered sugar
½-3/4 teaspoon almond extract
½ Tablespoon whipping cream or milk
Whip softened butter with a hand mixer until it becomes light and fluffy. Add the extract and milk. Gradually add in the powdered sugar until the frosting becomes a stiff, spreadable consistency. You can also add food coloring at any point to make a more eye-catching spread.
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