Tomorrow is Valentine's Day but don't worry - there's still time to bake a batch of cookies for your special Valentine and I've got the perfect recipe for you. I love this chocolate sugar cookie recipe that I found on sweetapolita.com. The soft, dark chocolate cookie with the sweet vanilla frosting is absolutely divine. You are sure to impress your Valentine with this sweet treat. Perfect Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies 6 cups (750 g) all-purpose flour, sifted 1-1/4 cups (137 g) dark cocoa powder 1 teaspoon (8 g) salt 2 cups (454 g)(4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar 1 cup (228 g) light brown sugar 3 eggs, cold 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
Preheat your oven to 325° F. Cut your shapes using the cutters of your choice, placing them on a baker's half sheet lined with a silicone baking mat (or parchment), with 2" clearance around each one and the edge of sheet. Place sheet with cookies into freezer for 15 minutes before baking. Bake until cookie edges are just crisp, about 16 minutes. Cool sheets on wire racks for 10 minutes, then gently remove cookies and place on wire racks to finish cooling. If your Valentine is a chocolate lover, he (or she) will LOVE these chocolate sugar cookies. Customize your cookies by using your favorite cookie cutter shapes. Add just a little frosting for decoration or spread it on thick for a sweeter cookie - The choice is yours. Ciao!
0 Comments
Valentine's Day is on a Thursday this year. School and work and soccer practice and wrestling meets all seem to be taking priority over our Valentine celebration. It seems that the only time we will all be together that day is for breakfast so ... Valentine breakfast it is. I had seen a picture of a heart shaped cinnamon roll on pinterest and my mind immediately went to Valentine's Day. There were no instructions on the website - simply a picture of an unbaked cinnamon roll that had been shaped into a heart. I decided to take on the challenge of recreating this sweet treat for my family. How hard could it be? The heart shaped cinnamon roll proved to be harder than I thought it would be. I tried several different methods to get the cinnamon rolls to hold their heart shape and after several failed attempts, I finally found one that worked. (Not that anyone complained about having to eat 2 batches of rolls that didn't look like hearts.) Cinnamon Rolls ½ cup flour Filling 5 teaspoons yeast 1 cup brown sugar ½ cup warm water 5 Tablespoons butter 1 Tablespoon brown sugar 1 Tablespoon cinnamon 1 ¾ cup warm water 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 5-5 ¾ cups flour ¼ cup butter Icing 1 Tablespoon cinnamon 1 cup powdered sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1 Tablespoon half and half 1 teaspoon vanilla In mixer, combine ½ c. flour, yeast, brown sugar and ½ cup water. Let stand 15 minutes.
T make hearts, I rolled the short sides in to meet in the center before slicing. Slice into 1/2" pieces and place on a cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes at 400. My sweet daughter ate 3 of these after soccer practice yesterday afternoon. That's all the thanks I need.
Ciao! Whenever I take a tray of cookies somewhere, I always watch to see which cookies are eaten first. In most cases the stack of oatmeal raisin cookies are almost always one of the first to go. There must be something universally appealing about a chewy, soft cookie packed with plump and juicy raisins and it just so happens that I share this love of oatmeal raisin cookies. I wonder if other people think that they're a perfectly acceptable breakfast food too? Oatmeal Raisin Cookies 1 cup + 1 teaspoon flour 1 Tablespoon cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt 1/2 cup + 3 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar 11 Tablespoons butter 1/4 cup eggs 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla 2 cups old fashioned oats 1 cup raisins Whisk sugars together in a small bowl. Add to butter and beat 3-4 minutes until fluffy. Add eggs and beat 30 seconds. Place flour in a bowl and sift in cinnamon and baking soda and salt. Add to batter in 2 separate additions. Pulse in oats.
These cookies are everything you expect them to be - moist and chewy, laced with cinnamon and loaded with raisins. I stand by my stance that these are a perfectly acceptable breakfast food too - oats and fruit.
Ciao! I have one child who absolutely loves meatloaf. (One year she even requested it as her special birthday dinner.) Luckily that same child also loves to MAKE meatloaf. I use the word luckily because if it were left up to me, I would never make it. It's not that I'm opposed the delicious loaf of meat, it's simply because I don't like to mix raw meat with my hands. I've tried other methods of combining the meatloaf ingredients but the most effective way by far, is to use your hands to mix everything together. There's just something about cold, raw meat squishing between my fingers that is repulsive to me. Fortunately this is not a genetic trait that was passed down to my daughter because she just loves that job. Squeezing eggs in her palms and squishing raw meat through her fingers is ... somehow stress reducing for her. Classic Meatloaf 2 pounds ground beef 1/2 cup tomato sauce ¾ pound mushrooms 1/3 cup milk 2 Tablespoons butter 2 eggs 1 onion, diced ½ cup bread crumbs 3 cloves garlic ¼ teaspoon thyme 1 ¾ pounds ground beef ½ teaspoon oregano 1/3 cup parsley 1 teaspoon basil 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon pepper Add mushrooms and sauté until soft. Cook 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute. Mix together all other ingredients.
Top with ketchup. I first made these cupcakes at Christmas time but with Valentine's Day right around the corner, (hint, hint) they would make a sweet treat for your sweetheart. I loved the white chocolate and peppermint combination in the cake. The Swiss meringue buttercream recipe is my new favorite too. It's creamy and light and it never disappoints. White Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes Batter 2 ounces white chocolate, melted 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon peppermint 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 egg white
Bake 18 minutes. Swiss Meringue Buttercream 6 egg whites 1 1/2 cups sugar pinch salt 2 cups butter 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in bowl of mixer. Put over double boiler and whisk over simmering water until sugar melts and mixture is warm. (130 degrees)
Top with a white chocolate snowflake. (or a chocolate heart) If you want to check out more of my cupcake flavors, scan through the dessert index or log into the mystoryinrecipes Facebook page.
Ciao! |
Like my page on facebook.
Follow me on Instagram
Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|