My brother’s birthday is on Halloween. I always thought he was so lucky–what an amazing holiday to have a birthday on! Everyone is festive, dressing up, eating sweets, and getting free candy, it doesn’t get much better than that. We used to have really fun birthday parties for him too where my mom would create a “haunted-house” in the garage where we’d all stick our hands in various foods blindfolded and told they were “witches eyeballs” or “brains”. It was disgusting but it was fun 
.
Now that we are older, things are a little bit different. We live on opposite sides of the country and he now likes chocolate, especially dark chocolate (hated it all as a kid). I like dark chocolate, but tend to be more of a milk chocolate gal–only one of our many differences. Yet, as I have been thinking about him a lot recently, I’ve realized that he and are are not as dissimilar as I thought. I tended to think of him as just different because of his illness. This thought was blocking me from seeing him as a whole person–instead I have only been seeing what is wrong–ugh. But I’ve realized that he actually is going through a lot of the same growing up issues that every 20 something does, including issues that I went through. You know those questions, insecurities, doubts, fears, and uncertainties that tend to be especially prevalent during our 20′s. Hearing about other people’s situations and stories can be really helpful for me and is probably true for my brother. So I’ve started encouraging him, letting him know that I am here to talk to or bounce things off of. Sometimes I do slip into the bossy older sister mode and just want him to be OK–I get all wrapped up in just wanting him to be how I want him to be! But in the end, that hasn’t been working. In fact, it just makes things tense and angry between us. So, I’ve decided to use this different approach and already things have been feeling better and more open.
I called him last weekend and was trying to be really covert in asking him about his favorite desserts, flavors, etc (neither of us are good at being super covert!). I found out his favorite desserts are mint chocolate chip ice cream (that would be really interesting to make but hell to ship) and oreo cheesecake pie. As he was telling me about the pie, I had an instant flashback of my brother, my dad, and I on one of our rare trips to the grocery store together. We would buy things that my mother would never have brought home and used to get giddy about it together. One of those “absolute nots” in our house was Oreos–except when dad went shopping . Then my brother and I would savor those cookies, eating them on the sly, until they were all gone. We loved them. That’s when I knew I had to MAKE them and send them to him for his birthday. I knew I had seen the recipe somewhere, did a quick search, and found it on one of my favorite sites Smitten Kitchen. These cookies really do taste like oreos! It is uncanny really. They are good. And addictive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Homemade Oreos, via Smitten Kitchen
Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies
For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg
For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
- In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
- Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
- To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
- To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.
Pumpkin is one of those lovely seasonal foods I look forward to using this time of year. I try to find as many excuses as possible to include it in all it’s various forms from puree to chopped to roasted in its skin (this includes all squash varieties, really . A few weeks ago, I made my favorite pumpkin bread recipe, and last week, I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I tried two different recipes, one with two sticks of butter and the other with just one stick. The cookies with two sticks were heavier and more dense but not in a good way, where as the cookies with one stick were lighter, more like a muffin top. One of the recipes called for orange rind which I thought was interesting; the other used brown sugar instead of white, which always I find to add a lot of depth and great flavor undertones to baked goods. So I am bringing you the best of both worlds in a hybrid recipe that I’ve reconstructed for you below. These cookies are less cookie-like and really more cake like, soft, and spongy–that’s due to the pumpkin. They are spicy too, but don’t be afraid to add a little more spice than what is called for–I always do, especially the ginger and cinnamon. I tend to hold back on the nutmeg because it can get super pungent really quickly–just my opinion though .
But pumpkin is so good in so many other dishes too–and not only baked goods! (gasp!). I know, I would just bake all my foods if I could, but there are many forces working against me for that 
. Anyway, it is great in curries, in pasta dishes, sauteed, roasted and lightly drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with some sea salt. Pumpkins are a taste of fall for me.
Also, I am doing an event up in Seattle next weekend (email me by Monday night if you are in the Seattle area and would like to come!) with the design collective called BRITE. They are hosting me and this eating design event at Via Tribunali, a great pizzeria in the Georgetown neighborhood. They were looking for something along the lines of Pietopia, but more interactive for a smaller scale. So here’s what we are doing:
Eat My Story, Seattle, WA
Think of a story–it could be about your life, your goldfish, a favorite place, anything–and write it in 150 words or less.
Think of a list of ingredients that could go on a pizza that relate to this story–via taste, texture, history, place, smell, you name it.
Then send me the story and list by the deadline.
Next weekend, on October 3rd, we will be meeting at Via Tribunali at 1230 for a lunch extravaganza!
I am going to make pizza peels with everyone’s story and ingredients listed/drawn on them.
As guests arrive for lunch, they will get a random pizza peel (not necessarily their own story) and then have to construct it based on what’s on their peel.
Then we eat each other’s stories, understanding them in a much different way than if we had just heard or read about them . It’ll be fun, I am excited.
Have a great week!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp clove
1 tsp ground ginger
1/ 2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
15 oz can of pure pumpkin
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
orange zest of one medium orange (optional)
1-2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375F.
Sift together (or whisk in small bowl) flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger together and set aside.
Beat butter, brown sugar and sugar together in a large mixer bowl.
Add pumpkin and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
Add egg and beat well until fully incorporated.
Gradually (I do it in 3 batches) beat in flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 13-15 minutes until edges start to brown. Remove from oven and cool on racks.
The other day, I ran across a new bakery here in town (I know, I didn’t think it was possible here in the land-o-bakeries!). I walked in and it was amazingly cute. Cute to the point of redundancy, actually. Given, it was their first day open and things were in perfect order–but I mean, it was a little eerie. The baked goods were stacked perfectly in their cases, all of which were vintage and refurbished, and the glass was gleaming like a Windex commercial. Mind you, these are all things I thought about AFTER I purchased my goodies. I had my eye on the prize–the sweet prize that is. Whenever I find a new bakery, first I have to order three things. It gives me a good overview in their talents. Second, after I’ve purchased, I take a look around. What’s the ambiance like? How does this place make me feel? Rarely do I eat my purchases in the new bakery, I have to take them home to taste each one without distraction–and share with whoever is around or comes by that day and get their opinion too . I get curious!
That day, I brought home a poppy seed cupcake with lavender frosting, a lemon blueberry scone, and a rosewater sugar cookie. They must have been worried about last minute preparations for the opening because the cupcake was like cardboard (although the frosting was interesting), the scone was under cooked (not fun biting into a large chunk of dough), and the sugar cookie was bland—but it got me thinking. Rosewater sugar cookies? This could be really good. So I set off to find another recipe and try them myself. Oh, and not that this usually matters, but it turns out this was a vegan bakery. I totally have a soft spot for vegan cupcakes, they are generally more moist and all around scrumptious–but bad vegan baked goods make that little voice in my head come out and yell–see! baked goods SHOULD have eggs, butter, and cream in them! Not all the time, I tell it, but this time I agree.
It turns out that Rosewater Sugar Cookies were a holiday tradition in old Germany–like around the early to mid 19th century. The Christmas cookie tradition we have here in the states originates from the German tradition of making a variety of delicate cookies called Plätzchen. They use rosewater not only in these sugar cookies, but also in marzipan. I always think of rosewater as a middle eastern ingredient or something you eat in the late spring (probably because that’s when roses are blooming). But it makes sense that rosewater would be busted out for the holidays–it probably took the previous six months to steep and make it, not to mention how special it probably was. I love learning about this stuff!
I guess you just never know what stumbling onto a new bakery will do and what kind of domino effect it may have . I made these cookies as gifts and I think they tasted excellent. Light but with that perfect, buttery, shortbread crumble and the aroma of rosewater, these will be added to my collection for sure!
Rosewater Sugar Cookies
1 stick butter or margarine
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp lemon extract (optional)
1 1/2 tsp rose water extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
3 cups flour
dash salt
Beat in yolk and extracts to blend.
Mix baking soda into sour cream and mix well with other ingredients. and flour
Mix with a spoon by hand to mix well
The dough is beautiful to handle.
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface and cut out your cookies as you would for sugar cookies
Place on baking sheets a few inches apart.
-Make Rosewater Sugar topping-
I put a couple of tablespoons of white sugar into a jar, sprayed a couple of times the rosewater over it, and added just a tiny hint of pink food coloring. Then I shook the hell out of it to mix the sugar with the coloring and the rosewater. I lightly patted the sugar onto each cookie, then placed them on the pan to bake.
Cheers!
I have rediscovered my cookbooks since moving, and in particular one. It’s called Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers: The Northwest Heritage Cookbook by Janie Hibler. It is a historical compilation of recipes from all over the northwest, complete with stories, old photos, and the original recipes. Hibler will explain when necessary where she tweaked the recipe for today’s standards, but still gives the original by it’s side for your own comparison. There are recipes for Flaming Raspberry Souffle, Moist Prune Cake with Ginger-Cream Frosting, Basque Walnut Pudding, Blackberry Cobblers, Grilled Albacore with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Fresh Rosemary, Roast Chicken with Barley-Mushroom Stuffing in Blackberry Sauce, Focaccia with Smoked Salmon and Basil Mayonnaise, Dungeness Crab and Spinach Raviolis, and September Harvest Chowder… just to name a few . Hungry yet? Yeah, me too. But this book was also an eye opener to the vast bounty of food that really is available in this region. I knew this of course, but sitting down and flipping through these pages was hard proof and it brought me to my senses! (pun intended
I am also fascinated with old recipes. Not only are you tasting pretty much what they tasted, but you are reading what they read, and going through some very similar motions to make that dish. Depending on when and where the recipe came from, it can tell you a lot about the living conditions, the time period, and even the psyche of the people who ate it. There is a general fascination, I’ve found, with people who have their grandmother’s recipes or even great-grandmother’s. Through those recipes we find bits and parts of our selves via their history. These women (mainly) share a lot more with us than just genetics and if you look, taste, smell, and feel closely with their food you make, you might discover some of these secrets.
There is an old family recipes from my dad’s side for Apple Kuchen (Apple Cake in German). My grandmother went through a long phase where she had to modify all of her farmhouse cooking training to meet the needs of my diabetic grandfather–butter turned to margarine, she stopped using salt, things like that. But this recipe did not change and she would make the full fat and butter version no matter what. This recipe has not been altered since it came from the old country almost two hundred years ago–so as I make it, I imagine my great great great grandmother doing the same in Austria, my great great grandmother making it along the Oregon trail out of the back of her covered wagon, my great grandmother making it in her outdoor kitchen beside their sod house and eventually in their wooden clapboard farm home, and finally my grandmother learning to make it as a little girl and teaching me what her mother taught her. The funny thing is is that both of my parents are pretty nonchalant about food, my mother, her mother, and her mother before that all hated to cook and my dad never really took to the kitchen. But I loved it, so I was in there a lot…I still am!
So when I found this recipe for Fort Vancouver Ginger Biscuits in Hibler’s book, I couldn’t resist. She writes, “Imagine a buttery ginger cookie that’s so tender it melts in your mouth, and you’ll know what lies ahead when you make these delightful “biscuits,” a British term for cookies that can be sweet or savory. The recipe comes from Rick Edwards, park ranger at Fort Vancouver, Washington, who developed it from the list of ingredients recorded in the original Hudson’s Bay Company records of the fort.” And this cookie seriously does melt in your mouth. I upped the ginger by another teaspoon, and I always throw in a little more cinnamon than what’s called for, but I LOVE spicy ginger cookies. And these are incredible.
Fort Vancouver Ginger Biscuits, by Janie Hibler
3 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
24 tablespoons butter (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
Preheat oven to 375 F and lightly grease a cookie sheet.
Blend the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and ginger together and set aside. In a large bowl mix the butter, sugar, and molasses together and stir in the dry ingredients. Make sure the butter and thus the batter are still cold.
Roll out on a lightly floured board to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a 2 inch round cookie cutter (or glass) and place 1/2 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes, do not over bake.
Variation:
I used only a cup of butter instead of a cup and a half and substituted the rest with some milk. I rarely do this but I feel like I have been on butter overload these past few weeks for some reason! Then I just took balls of dough from the bowl and rolled them between my hands instead of rolling it out. I put the balls on the pan and had to bake them for 12 minutes because they were thicker, but they still turned out great and super moist!
Cheers!
The end of summer has always brought with it some transitions–the weather, a new school year, fall activities and harvests to name a few. This fall brings with it some pretty major transitions–I am moving into a new house in a few days (and will explain my lack of posts for the next week or so!) and am looking for a new job. This summer was a big transition in itself–ending a two year master’s stint and readjusting back into a normal pace of life–which, by the way, has been incredible .
During my day, I like to ease from one activity to the next, taking small steps to adjust to something new–I even call it “ease-of-transition”. I think it is helpful to try to give yourself a little bit of buffer time or maybe something that indicates to not just your mind but your body that you will be doing something new. For instance, tea does this for me. In the afternoon, I will have a small pot of green tea with something small and sweet (like biscotti)–it’s like a tiny pause–and it is tremendously helpful for readying not only my mind but my body for something new I need or have to do. These pauses are ways that I simply be nice to myself–I can tend to push myself pretty far when it comes to working or doing something, especially when I am concentrating hard. So it is nice to set up these little moments to give yourself a break; I’m (still) always surprised when I work better after them too!
I am the same way with packing–my main activity for the next several days. We all know that one of the most despised activities on the planet is moving–not necessarily the end result because that can be fantastic–but it’s the packing, going through all your stuff, having to decide what stays and what goes, what goes to good will and what goes in the trash, it’s a lot of work. So, to ease my mind a little, I find that doing a little every day keeps me going, otherwise if I try to do it all in one major swoop I can get totally overwhelmed.
September will bring with it a whole new slew of transitions: new house, (looking for a) new job, new neighborhood, new routine. It’ll be nice to settle in both figuratively and literally! I can’t wait to bake and cook with the abundance of fall either, there will be some good things to come for sure . I wish you well if you are in any transition! And if you are, it may help to take a pause for a minute even if you don’t think you need one–it always makes me that much more efficient and ready!
Cheers!
Vanilla Bean (taking a break) Biscotti
recipe adapted from Alice Waters
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Measure and stir together:
2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 vanilla bean’s pods–split it down the middle and use a butter knife to scrape them out
In another bowl, combine:
3 eggs, at room temperature (this is really important, it will take more than twice the time if they are cold–a quick trick is to put them in a bowl of hot water from the tap for about 5 minutes) 1 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
Beat together until the mixture forms a ribbon. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, form the dough into 3-inch wide loaves, about 3 inches apart. Smooth the loaves with damp hands. Make for 25 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove the loaves from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300 F. Cut the cooled loaves into the 1/2 inch thick, turn the cookies over, and cook for another 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Bon appetit!
This weekend we made a trip up to explore Seattle and it’s surroundings. One of the first things we did was take the ferry out to Vashon Island. This one-stoplight wonder of a place charmed the socks off of me. Our first stop was the Vashon Island Growers Market (held every Saturday). There we found delicious treats like this fresh frittata with chard and lotus blossoms. We found it at the Sun Island Farm booth, run by a lovely family with the dad making frittatas and the mom and kids running the “front”.
Another booth I stopped at was Barbara’s Chocolates. I was lured over because, well, there were baked goods there. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find these delectable little chocolates that were divine. Barbara told me she makes them fresh in her production kitchen and decorates them right on Vashon!
We then wandered over to the islands Tea House. The owner told me that when she serves people tea in a proper teacup, they act differently, as opposed to a mug or a little Japanese cup. She said they become a bit calmer and definitely quieter as they sip their tea out of a dainty teacup. How interesting! I’ve wondered about that myself…
Vashon surprised me! I honestly didn’t know what to expect when we went there (initially to check out some of Andrew’s old haunts and the abandoned K2 complex) but am so happy we did. I love impromptu connections, stories, and exchanges that happen; the warm and grounded people on Vashon were truly fantastic.
(From the Vashon Growers Market, we wandered into town where the islands one stoplight resides. I noticed some great signage that happened to belong to one of the islands art galleries, Valise. I chatted with one of the owners who was extremely warm and helpful and gave us tips about some other great places to see.)
(A great malt shop I was told! but this is the sign is the only thing left of it!)
The color pink has a specific taste. It’s light, sweet, and just ever so slightly cherry, maybe even rose, just hinting at those flavors. Yes, the color pink becomes so much more than just a color when it’s involved in food. It tastes like the warmth from a hug, a feminine hug, like a mother or grandmother; or the smell of a newborn’s neck, ever so slightly sweet, light, and fresh; or the feeling of a lover’s kiss who has been gone a long long time, nourishing, sweet, and sensual. The color pink has elements of all these tastes in it for me and last night I read that someone else had their own thoughts on the taste of pink as well. So I had to try her recipe (which ultimately was her friend Jimmy’s recipe) for Jimmy’s Pink Cookies. They are fantastic, a perfect shortbread crumb that crumbles then melts in your mouth as you chew. The frosting is decadent with just a hint of cherry or rose that makes them taste, well, more pink!
“Academic baking” as a friend likes to put what I do (and I got a huge kick out of), definitely has it’s perks:). Especially when you are one of my friends living within walking/biking proximity of my home because you will more than likely be getting these goodies. A girl can try to eat all this stuff by herself (and trust me, I’ve tried) but actually, I the enjoy sharing part almost as much as the baking. Now, back to the “academic” part…thesis writing calls!
Jimmy’s Pink Cookies (Molly Wizenburg)
For the cookies:
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon kirsch, rose water, cherry extract, or maraschino cherry juice (I actually used more maraschino cherry juice flavor as it’s a diluted compared to the rest and it was delish)
red or rose food coloring
To make cookies, combine the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, and beat, first on low speed, and then slowly increasing to medium, until light and fluffy.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt, and whisk well. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating until the flour is just absorbed. Add the vanilla and beat well to incorporate. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on a large clean surface and turn the dough out onto it. Shape into a disk, wrap well, and refrigerate for one hour.
On a clean, floured surface, roll th dough out to a thickness of 3/8 inch. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into whatever shapes you would like. (I personally use a drinking glass for circles). Jimmy uses a much bigger cutter, often in the shape of a heart.
Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake them one sheet at a time, keeping the second sheet in the refridgerator until the first one is done, for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are pale golden at the edges. Do not allow them to brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely on the pan.
To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butterin the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed to fully incorporate, then raise the speed to medium/medium high and beat until there are no lumps, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the flavoring and a few drops of food coloring and beat well. The frosting should be a pretty shade of pink. Taste, if it needs more “pink” flavor, go ahead and add more. Generously spread onto the fully cooled cookies.
Stored in an airtight container, pink cookies will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days–and they are delicious cold–or you can freeze them indefinitely.
Yeild: 20-24 (3 inch) cookies
Bon Appetit!
I’ve been making chocolate chip cookies since I was 8. Actually, it was one of the first things in the kitchen I learned how to make on my own and took it to a whole new level. As an avid chocolate chip cookie eater and baker for practically my whole life, I have tried many recipes and only one passes the test. Today, I will share this secret weapon that I whip out in any and all occasions. I need to distract myself and make something easy in the kitchen? Chocolate chip cookies. I have an impromptu dinner party to go to? Chocolate chip cookies. A friend of mine needs a pick me up? Chocolate chip cookies. I need a pick me up? Well, you get the idea.
I found myself in the kitchen yesterday while avoiding writing any more thesis. And lo and behold, guess what found it’s way from my mixer to my oven? Yep, you guessed it, chocolate chip cookies! Seriously people, this is a tried and true recipe that I have been using for years. I don’t take any credit for the creation of it, that was all Neiman Marcus, but man are these good. A crispy edge with a gooey center, the chocolate bits are perfectly melty but not scorching when you bite into one right out of the oven. These are to be enjoyed soon after they’ve been baked as they tend to firm up a day or so later, but dang, they are still good then too. Ok, enough of this banter. It’s time to go and make yourself some of these, you won’t regret it!
THE Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe (from here)
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Yes, the oatmeal cookie is making a return! I found this recipe and couldn’t resist trying it! These cookie are accompanying me to a print exchange that is happening tonight. I am so excited to get 35 original prints from the local area artists who all participated! The prints I included with my silkscreen partner and collaborator Chelsea H. were from the Recommendations: Winter series, the red suit and socks prints. (You can find the whole series on our Etsy site, plainMade Design.) I love these prints:).
These cookies were the perfect combination of sweetness, acidity and sourness (from the California apricots), a touch of creaminess from the white chocolate, and a well rounded texture from the combination of the latter two and the oatmeal. Bon appetite!
Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Apricots and White Chocolate (recipe adapted from Martha)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
8 oz white chocolate, chopped
7 oz dried apricots, preferably California, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream butter and sugars with a mixer until light and flufy. Reduce speed to low. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs, and beat until well combined. Stir in chocolate and apricots.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto ungreased (but parchment is fine) baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges but still soft in the center, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer to wire rack, let cool. Cookies will keep covered for up to one week.——- They are really great with a cup of Earl Grey tea in the afternoon!
I re-found an old recipe my Grandmother had typed up for me (yes, typed). She started giving me recipes when I was a young girl, very young, like 6. My mother kept most of them, so I come across them from time to time in my collection. This one, called Amish Sugar Cookies, I found interesting as first, the recipe is huge! It makes 4 dozen cookies. I think she had it in mind to make a ton so she could decorate them with her grandchildren. I was easily able to half the recipe. Then, it calls for dreaded margarine and cooking oil! Thinking back, I know she substituted these things for shortening and butter as my grandfather became diabetic later in his life. In the 80′s it was still all the rage to eat margarine as a “healthy” substitute, or so I remember her saying. Instead of cooking oil, I used earth balance shortening and the cookies came out beautifully.
I think it’s interesting how the Amish, would never have used margarine or cooking oil (whatever that is!) but would have reveled in the full fat of the butter and lard the original recipe calls for. I also think it’s interesting how I, as the grand daughter, am changing the recipe back to it’s original form, from a version that was meant to be “more healthy.” It’s like bringing back the meaning of a sweet thing, a baked good, nourishment, and food full circle in my family. Because I am sure that whoever made this recipe up, made sure their families didn’t over indulge on them or made them that often, making them a treat and a healthful choice (as other means of nourishment) by default.
Amish Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup non-salted butter
1/2 cup earth balance shortening
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all purpose, non-bleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 – 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
Cream sugars, butter and shortening until a light yellow color. Add the egg and extract, beat well. Add and mix the dry ingredients. You can either roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and with a cookie cutter or a small cup, cut out the cookies; or, you can take a teaspoon of dough, roll it into a small ball in your hand and flatten it with the end of a cup dipped in sugar on the cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 F for 8 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned. The tops shouldn’t brown, they will be white like little full moons.
Cheers!
