Best Sugar Cookies

For some reason I always feel the need to make at least one cookie recipe for big family events. In the case of Christmas I usually make two. Is there a need for two? Probably not, but there is something spectacular about seeing stacks and stacks of cookies lined up awaiting the next day's celebration. Sure a cake or two is impressive, but when you can build a city skyline of cookies it really is something special.

I'm not the biggest fan of sugar cookies, but my brother (the one that never gets mentioned) loves them. I think they might be his favourite overall, or at least a close second to oatmeal raisin. I have had this recipe bookmarked for quite some time, but have always avoided using it because of its “secret ingredient:” Jello vanilla instant pudding mix. For some reason as a baking snob I'm somewhat inclined to turn my nose up at any recipe that uses boxed ingredients. However, in this case, I'm very glad I was able to put my prejudice aside.

363 more days left until Christmas :).

So Christmas has now come and gone, faster this year than any I can recall. I remember when I was a kid it felt like ages for December to come around and the days and nights leading up to Christmas seemed to last forever.

Christmas was wonderful this year. It's honestly my favourite time. Christmas allows me to see all of my family in just two days, and for me, this is truly what its about. This is then followed by a lot of time spent at home with my immediate family, which is something I don't get to do often enough.

Like all special occasions I dawned my battle attire, and headed for the kitchen. On December 23rd I spent no less than 10 hours on my feet, in apron, in full baking mode. The result? Everything you see in that picture.

Ginger Spice Cake

I had another craving for ginger, but as I mentioned previously, I couldn't find a ginger spice cake recipe that piqued my interest. So I looked through a bunch of recipes and chose the spice cake that I liked the most, and decided to convert it into a ginger spice cake. I figure even I can manage the addition of a single ingredient :).

The Terminator can be stopped. The same cannot be said of my Grandmother.

Sunday was a day that I had been looking forward to for weeks. It wasn't a celebration (per se), it wasn't a party, and as far as I can tell it's not yet Christmas. No, it was the day I had made plans with my Grandmother to bake some cookies for Christmas. I was finally going to learn some of the recipes and secrets of her famous (at least in our circles :) ) baked goods. The day was beyond my expectations, and one that I will always remember. I walked away with two wonderful recipes for cookies and some important life lessons and tips for my future baking ventures. However, more than this, I left with a greater respect and admiration of my Grandmother and how amazing she is.

We made bocconotti and pizzelli. For anyone who has not been blessed enough to taste these cookies, I will try (and fail) to describe them. Bocconotti is a simple egg yolk pastry crust filled with a light and flavourful chocolate-almond-meringue, usually dusted with a bit of powdered sugar. If something can be both sinfully rich and gleefully light than these cookies are it. Pizzelli is a super thin, crispy, waffle cookie. It's very very light, and very subtle in both sweetness and flavour (which in my Grandmother's case is lemon). It's truly a great cookie and can be paired with so many things or eaten on its own as a light snack. Although light is a matter of perspective, since it's easy to eat ten or twenty of them without realizing :).

Peanut Butter Peanut Brittle

I don't know when I first tasted peanut brittle. My most vivid memory is from Christmas quite some time ago. It was definitely store bought, (I remember a tartan pattern on the box), but it was oh so good. I just couldn't stop eating it. I love it, but it's another thing that I kind of forget about until the Holidays. I have never made brittle or, for that matter, anything that would be considered “candy.” I've always been a bit scared of it since I do not own a candy thermometer (although I'm hoping that this Christmas will remedy that :)). However, a few weeks ago my brother asked me to make peanut brittle, wanting to be a good big brother, I decided to satisfy his craving (or try to).

The Happy Mistake: A Semi-Sweet Retraction

I made a lot of chocolate chip cookies yesterday afternoon. Four dozen to be exact (plus two). I was making them to bring into work so I wanted to use a recipe that would allow me to shamelessly promote my blog :). And since I really wanted to bring chocolate chip cookies, my choices were obviously limited :).

Despite the fact that I had made them before, I was still shocked at how thin and unattractive they were. Each cookie looked like it had some type of chocolate chip disease. I then began to question my desire to bring them into work. Although I agree with my mother that taste is far more important than look, as a baker, we are expected to produce items that tastes great, smell wonderful, and look appealing. There is simply no baking equivalent of the sloppy joe. Although my cookies might be close :).

Baked Ginger Doughnut-Muffins

I like doughnuts. A lot. I like plain doughnuts, iced doughnuts, sugared doughnuts, dipped doughnuts, fresh doughnuts, supermarket doughnuts, well you get the idea (no sprinkles though, bleh). I can eat doughnuts like some eat potato chips and I'm willing to throw down with Homer Simpson any day. It's for this reason that I rarely eat doughnuts. You see, I have grown somewhat accustomed to being able to see my feet without the use of a reflective surface. Because of this, the idea of a baked doughnut is instantly appealing. As well, making real doughnuts requires being around a lot of hot oil, which would likely bestow a future of bad Christmas sweaters and a glove with knives.

Refrigerator Bran Muffins

I realize I already have a bran muffin recipe on the site, and I also realize that I really enjoyed those bran muffins. However, the instant appeal of these muffins was that they were advertised as “refrigerator proof,” that is, the batter can be completely mixed and put in the fridge for up to 30 days and when you feel like fresh muffins, just scoop and go. I thought my celebratory breakfast would be a great testing ground for them. I prepared the batter on Saturday afternoon (shortly before making my PB and Chocolate Rice Krispies Treats) and stuck it in the fridge for the next morning.

Oat Waffles aka. My Favourite Waffles

A few weekends ago was the one year anniversary of my weekly baking insanity. It was this time last year that I suddenly decided to bake every Saturday. I haven't looked back since. My Saturday baking is something I look forward to at the start of every week, and I am always trying to figure out “what's next?” To celebrate this "milestone" I decided to make breakfast for my family, which included these waffles and a new “durable” bran muffin recipe (which I will post a little later).