Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I get started blogging consistently and then I fail at life. All the Titanic stuff on this last week distracted me, sorry. To the post!

My signature cookie was Oatmeal M&M for a while, primarily because it was my favorite to eat. Since I have been avoiding baking things I love eating, I haven't made them for two and a half years. I was asked to bake some oatmeal raisin cookies for someone, which broke my streak. As you can see, I made these jumbo sized. They took about 1/3 cup of dough to make them that large, but it was nice because it took significantly less time to get into the oven. They tasted amazing. I can never bake these again (unless they're for somebody else).

Martha Stewart Challenge: Chocolate Mint Wafers

These cookies are very similar to Thin Mints (my favorite Girl Scout cookies ever), but the recipe was not very good. Even though making the dough was pretty easy, once I got past the chilling stage the recipe became fairly misleading. The suggested amount of dough did not flatten out to the size the recipe claimed and they took several minutes longer to bake than stated. I won't get started on the dipping process. They tasted great, yet I'm not sure they're worth the effort.

Grade: C+ (A- for taste, D for the recipe), not sure if I'll bake again.

Martha Stewart Challenge: Pillowy Meringues

I am a terrible blogger, but I have a semi-legitimate excuse this time! I was helping my dad pick out a new car/baking things I've previously posted. I'm baking a lot of new things these next few weeks so hopefully I will be getting back into a regular posting schedule. I will also be starting up my training blog (that I've neglected since January...) within the next few days as well. Hooray!

These cookies were a disastuh. They were initially supposed to be shaped into hearts (I was going to do shamrocks since I was making them a month late) using a cookie cutter. That did not work; we piped them instead. The recipe said to bake them for a 2/12 to 3 hours, but it took nearly 4 hours. All of the difficulties making these cookies would be worth it if the cookies were delicious. Naturally they sucked. 

Grade: F-, never making again.

Martha Stewart Challenge: Glitter Ball Cookies

I am starting something I like to call the Martha Stewart Challenge. I got the Martha Stewart Cookies 2012 Calendar and it came with recipes for each month's cookies, so I will be making each cookie monthly (even though I am two months behind).

January's cookie is called a Glitter Ball. They are two little butter cookies rolled in sanding sugar and pressed together with a ginger honey frosting. There are no words for how amazing these cookies are. The butter cookies remind me of the free cookies I would get every time we went to Vons when I was little, so I am thrilled to finally have a recipe for them. I was concerned the ginger would be too overwhelming, but the cookies keep the frosting from being too strong. I definitely would not use the frosting on a cupcake though. That would be too much. 

Grade: A+, will (and have) make again. 

Ghirardelli Ice Cream

We went to Animal Kingdom on Day 3, then Downtown Disney in the evening for dinner and some shopping. On our way out of Downtown Disney we stopped at the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain for some ice cream. I had mint chip with dark chocolate fudge, and a cookie to mix into the sundae. It was predictably awesome.

Scandinavian Almond Bars

Scandinavian Almond Bars are my brother's favorite holiday cookie. They are an almond explosion: almond flavored cookies topped with almonds and almond icing. Everyone in my family loves them, so we make them every year. I don't think I've ever experienced a holiday season without these cookies. 

David- I'm sending some to you shortly, so prepare yourself. 

Chocolate Mint Creams

Chocolate Mint Creams are probably my favorite cookie of all time. They're a chocolate cookie frosted with pastel melt-away mints and they are delicious. (Un)fortunately the melt-away mints are hard to find. (Un)fortunately they sell them at Fresh Market and Wal-Mart. Usually there is a yellow mint as well, but the yellow ones from this brand didn't melt for some reason. I LOVE THESE COOKIES. I don't think anything else needs to be said.

Wishing Stars!

Wishing Stars are one of my favorite cookies, and a must for the holiday season. I get offended when we don't have them. They are a crispy molasses and spice cookie topped with a drizzle of icing. They are called wishing stars because if you press down on the center of the cookie with one finger, make a wish, and then eat the cookie silently, your wish would come true.

When we lived in San Diego we lived in a neighborhood that is known as "Christmas Card Lane" every year from Thanksgiving to New Years. Nearly every house put up wooden holiday scenes in the front yards. We had the final scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas in our front yard, and Snoopy laying on our roof like it was his dog house (it was initially on the grass with the rest of the characters, but smaller pieces were often stolen). Our elementary school was a 5 minute walk from our neighborhood, so every year our classes would walk around and look at the decorations, then we would stop at our house and have these cookies. Even though by the time we left San Diego, living on Christmas Card Lane became very annoying, I always loved those school trips.

As for if my wishes came true- my wish for a Talkgirl came true, but my wish for *NSYNC to show up and serenade me never did. Make of that what you will.

A Britney Spears Kransekake

Williams-Sonoma sent me a coupon a few weeks back, so I bought this Kransekake cookie cutter set because I needed new star cookie cutters. My kransekake not made with any particularly exciting ingredients, just sugar cookies and royal icing. This one was made as a test because I intend to make my gingerbread trees using these cookie cutters and wanted to get a feel for assembly and sizing. I'll probably try to make a real kransekake at some point. I do love a challenge.

I decorated it in honor of Britney Spears, whom I will love forever. I saw her in concert for the first time with my cousin Laura this summer; even though she is not the same performer as she was 10 years ago, the concert was still super fun and I'm so glad we got to go. My entertainment preferences definitely influence my baking, so expect to see more posts with baked goods inspired by particular things. I have a few ideas for some things coming in March and April, and can guarantee there will be something for the release of The Dark Knight Rises. My dogs are named after Batman characters, so that one was a given.

Snickerdoodles

I had some left over cookie dough from the Snickerdoodle Cookie Cupcakes, so I baked it. The reason I primarily bake experimental cupcakes and tarts is because I am less likely to eat them to excess than cookies and pies (I am firmly on team pie in the longstanding cake-or-pie debate. I like cake, but place an apple or peach pie in front of me and I've eaten half of it within ten minutes). I also developed my passion for baking by making a lot of cookies, so I don't need to test out recipes. These snickerdoodles were made with my usual recipe, so I knew they would be great.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

These might be one of the best things I have ever baked. At the bottom of the cupcake there is a chocolate chip cookie, which is topped with a brown sugar cake and browned buttercream. The cookie adds a nice crispy surprise to the cupcake that you wouldn't necessarily expect. I think I'll attempt to do this with snickerdoodle cupcakes soon since these were such a success.

Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

I made these cookies to send to my friend. Fortunately they are going to her and not staying here because they are delicious. They are a chocolate cookie with mint chips, but they could easily be made a double chocolate chip cookie instead. I will definitely sell these.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here are some chocolate chip cookies I made for my uncle and cousin. They are soft, chewy, and the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. I don't like making cookies (because I eat them), so I probably won't make these again anytime soon- unless someone requests them.