Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

There is an interesting story of how these shortbread cookies came about. Sorry Willie, (my 16 year old brother) but I am going to bash on you for just a second.  So, I had just finished a long day of work and was looking forward to putting my feet up for the rest of the night when my brother calls me and asks if I can make him cookies for a bake sale the following day.  I can never say no to baking no matter how tired I am so of course I agreed. 

I thought for about 30 minutes about what was easy to make and what he could sell easily and I decided upon shortbread.  My mom makes it every year at Christmas time and it is delicious but I had never actually taking a whack at it myself, so I thought why not?

They worked out quite splendidly and though my brothers bake sale was not very successful overall I happen to think that the cookies were... and my friends who got the left overs agreed as well. 

The bake sale that my brother did was to prevent sex trafficking and to help people to escape to freedom so in the end I was happy to help out for a good cause. 

I figured that I would do heart shaped cookies because everyone can use a little love.  Especially at the end of the school year! 

Also want to mention that I got this recipe from the Joy of Baking blog!

Ingredients:

This recipe makes about 25 heart shaped cookies. 

2 cups flour
1/4 cup salt
2 sticks softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup melted chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Whisk the flour and salt together and set aside. 
2. Beat butter in an electric mixer until creamy.  Add in sugar and mix until smooth for several minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. 
3. Gently stir in the flour mixture (you will probably have to use your hands to knead it until it has a doughy consistency). 
4. Flatten into about a 1/2 inch round shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.  
5. Preheat the oven to 350.
6. Roll out the dough on a flat surface while making sure there is plenty of flour to keep it from sticking to the surface and the rolling pin. 
7. Line baking sheets with parchment paper before placing cookies onto them.
8. Continue to roll it out until it is about a quarter inch thick and using cookie cutters cut out whatever shape you want.

9. Place the baking sheets containing unbaked cookies in the refrigerator directly before baking for about 15 minutes. 
10. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are just turning a very light brown color. 
11. If you want to make these twice as delicious melt some chocolate chips in a glass bowl and using a knife, spatula, or dipping, paint some melted chocolate onto each cookie and set aside to allow them to cool and harden. 

Feel free to add different sprinkles or decor onto the chocolate as displayed below. 
Once they have set (or even before) dig in! 

Happy Baking as always! 

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana Sandwiches

Hello again, friends of the baking community! It's been awhile, I know, and I wanted to give you an extra special gift for being patient! These are oatmeal peanut butter cookies, that happen to be gluten free, made into a sandwich that has pureed frozen banana in the center. 

I was not looking for a gluten free recipe but I came across this one which is lower in fat content and has no flour so I decided to try it out!  Be careful not to overcook these as they will get a weird consistency after cooling down but still yummy nonetheless. 

To update you on my life I have about one more week of classes, finals, and then I am finally headed home for a nice long summer which I am so excited about!  It has also been gorgeous weather in Portland, which is hard to believe, but it is so hard to sit inside and study when it is 75 degrees out!

My friends and I are huge Pinterest people and love to freeze pieces of frozen banana, throw them into the food processor or blender, and make it into a creamy ice cream that has just one ingredient: the bananas themselves! 

Beware: if cookies are just out of the oven they will be impossible to resist and sandwiches will be very messy.  So bring plenty of napkins. 

I used the peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe from Ambitious Kitchen, which you guys should check out if you are interested. 

Ingredients:

This recipe makes 15-20 cookies.

1 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1.5 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 oats
1 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2 sliced frozen bananas 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. In a small bowl combine oats and baking soda.
3. In a separate larger bowl mix together peanut butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer.  Then, add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips and mix until combined.

4. Roll into 1.5 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Press down lightly to flatten slightly before placing in the oven for 9-11 minutes.  Remove when the edges start to turn golden brown. 

5. While your cookies are baking, make the banana puree.  You should already have 2 frozen sliced bananas that have been in the freezer for at least 4 hours.  Place in a food processor and blend until creamy! 

   

6. Place between 2 cookies and INDULGE! 

These are not difficult at all so I hope you try it out and make again! Happy baking! 

Christmas Cookies Galore!

I apologize for the fact that I am posting a Christmas cookie recipe after the holidays but I actually made these cookies on December 26th and handed them out after that so I was a little late but who cares right? They still tasted delicious!

This is pretty much just a basic sugar cookie recipe with royal icing frosting.  I had a package of royal icing that you just add water too until you reach the desired consistency.  Unfortunately it did not make very much so I also just made a lot of plain milk and powdered sugar frosting (continue to add sugar until it is thick enough). 

My mom, my sister and I spent the whole night making these and it was quite fun and quite the project! We had a variety of cookie cutters such as snowflakes, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, birds, bells, hearts, candy canes, gingerbread men, and more!

                 

                               

I used Ziploc bags for piping and had a different bag designated for each color.

Tip: If you are going to do multiple layers of color (which most cookies do have), first outline the cookie, fill it in several minutes later, and allow this base color to dry most if not all the way before moving on to secondary colors.

    

     

Feel free to search the internet to get inspired, use sprinkles, create unique colors, and use your imagination!

I am just going to provide a sugar cookie recipe and provide you with this great royal icing recipe from the blog Bake at 350: Royal Icing.  My mom has been making these cookies since I was a little girl so it is definitely a family recipe that will be passed down.

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 stick unsalted butter

1.5 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl: flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer and once it is thoroughly combined add eggs and vanilla.

Slowly add the dry ingredients until blended.

Divide the dough in half and roll out each one between 2 sheets of parchment paper to form a 15' x 11' rectangle about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate until firm.

Remove dough from parchment paper and cut out desired shapes.

Bake on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Baking time varies based on cookie thickness and size so try to bake cookies of apprx. the same size together.  Remove from the oven when the edges begin to turn golden brown.  

Let them cool completely and then go ahead with your decorating!  

These cookies can be used for any occasion, it does not have to be for Christmas... I hope you try them regardless! 

Happy New Year and Happy Baking!