cookies

Entries Tagged as 'cookies'

4th Annual Cookie and Tree Trimming Party

December 19th, 2010 · 4 Comments

Katie, Loden, Anne, Kristin, Jessica, Stephanie

Mom, Amanda, Jessica, Rachelle, Halle, Jill

On Saturday I hosted my annual cookie and tree trimming party. I had been in New York all week for work, and while I got back in time and took Friday off, it was still a lot to cram into one day to be ready for Saturday. Unlike the last few years, I was not hung over for the party, but I kind of felt like I was. I was really tired! Always something… ha.

Mom & Jess

Friends and family came over and each brought a few dozen cookies. We laid the cookies out on trays and sampled them over the course of a few hours. This year is kind of strange the way Christmas falls and it seems to have snuck up on everyone. That, and the fact that I held the party a little later on in December, made up for a smaller party than usual. I remember last year it was crazytown. This year was more relaxed. I actually tried every cookie and talked to every person. Both parties were fun. Just different.

Dips!

To counterbalance all of the sweets, I also served dill dip with vegetables, pimento cheese, and a blue cheese with walnut spread. I’ll have some recipes for these at a later date. As always, we also had hot apple cider (spiked or not) which my mom and Jess were in charge of. I’m still using Julene’s Chicagoist recipe for the cider!

Halle

We passed the time talking and eating. Unlike last year, there were not many kids at the party this year. Just Jessica and Halle. Of course, everyone was cooing over Halle. She’s such a beautiful little girl and has such a great temperament. Jess spent most of her time behind the couch trimming the tree! Ha! She is shy and really into the tree, so she didn’t mind. Unlike last year when Jess and Tessa only decorated the tree up to the height they could reach, this year Jess got help and the tree is fully decorated up to the top.

Christmas Tree 2010

These were all the tasty cookies we sampled:

Rolo Cookies (Loden)
Christmas Stained Glass Cookies (Mary)
Holiday Bark (Jessica)
Chinese New Year Cookies (Anne)
Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps (Rachelle)
Reindeer Poop (Rachelle)
Classic Spritz Cookies (Katie)
5 Layer Cookies (Kristin)
Jack & Ginger Cookies (Jill)
Red Velvet Cookies (Amanda)
Dirty Balls (Amanda)
Mint Chip Cookies (Stephanie)
Oreo Pudding Bars (Jen)

Jen Voting

Everything was so delicious! Once everyone had a chance to sample everything I handed out voting cards and everyone made an anonymous vote. Tied for 3rd place were Jen’s Oreo Pudding Bars and Rollo Cookies. In second was Amanda’s Red Velvet Cookies and in first place? Amanda again with her Dirty Balls! (That sounds kind of disgusting!).

Amanda opening her gift for winning

Amanda with her prizes

I’m declaring the party a success again this year! I’ll post the recipes for the cookies later on today or tomorrow!

Martha Stewart’s Butter Pecan Cookies

November 6th, 2010 · 2 Comments

I love this butter pecan cookie recipe because there are only 6 ingredients and they are common things that I probably have in the pantry at any given time.

I made butter pecan cookies for Emily’s dinner party. I wasn’t sure how many people would be there so I decided to make them mini. To do this, I just used a smaller cookie scoop. I also rolled the cookies in Sugar in the Raw before baking. This gave them a nice crisp texture on the outside and also made them look pretty and sparkly. I love Sugar in the Raw for baking.

By making the cookies mini, I was able to get about 3 dozen cookies from this recipe.

Now the important part: How did they taste? They were a big hit at the party. There were maybe 10 people in attendance and my cookies were all gone by the end of the night. Always a good feeling when something you made is completely devoured.

Butter Pecan Cookies
From: MarthaStewart.com

These delicate, buttery cookies, which get their crunchy texture from toasted pecans and a sugar coating, practically melt in your mouth. Makes 12.

3/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for coating
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a baking sheet, toast pecans until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Let cool completely; finely chop.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until light, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla, salt, and flour, scraping down sides of bowl, just until dough comes together. Fold in pecans.

Separate dough into 12 pieces; squeeze dough to shape into balls. Roll in sugar. Place, 3 inches apart, on a baking sheet. Gently flatten with the bottom of a glass (reshape sides if necessary). Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until golden brown, rotating sheet halfway through, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with more sugar. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Martha Stewart’s Ne Plus Ultra Cookies

October 12th, 2010 · No Comments

I found the recipe for Ne Plus Ultra Cookies in Martha Stewart’s Cookies, of course. Basically, they’re a classic cookie with both raisins and chocolate chips. So why the funny name? Ne plus ultra means “The highest point, as of excellence or achievement; the acme; the pinnacle; the ultimate.” So, basically Martha Stewart thinks these are like the best cookies ever.

I made them for Doug and Naoko’s Labor Day party. There were a lot of different desserts, and honestly, these didn’t fly off the plate. I thought they were good, though. I’m not a huge fan of raisins in cookies, but in these they just gave a sweet taste and chewy texture more than anything. I also liked that the ingredients are things you’re likely to have in your cupboard, so they’re easy to make in a pinch.

Ne Plus Ultra Cookies
From: Martha Stewart’s Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs; mix until well combined.

Sift flour, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; add to butter mixture on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips, raisins, and pecans.

Roll dough into 2 1/2-inch balls, then flatten to 1-inch thick. Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake cookies until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

…. and that’s when something weird happened ….

September 29th, 2010 · 3 Comments

Apple Fest and an Apple-themed dinner party.

Martha Stewart’s Double Chocolate Coconut Cookies

September 1st, 2010 · 2 Comments

I made these cookies for Andy & Katie’s Fourth of July party. I didn’t have white chocolate chunks so I used a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate and butterscotch chips. The cookies turned out to be a big hit!

Double Chocolate Coconut Cookies
From: Martha Stewart’s Cookies

The title refers to the cocoa powder and white chocolate in this recipe: the coconut and pecans lend additional chunky, nutty appeal. You can swap in hazelnuts, almonds, or pecans for some or all of the walnuts. Makes about 5 dozen.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
2 cups white-chocolate chunks (about 9 ounces)
1 3/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 3/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts, (about 6 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time. Stir in vanilla.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Mix into butter mixture on low speed until well combined. Stir in chocolate, coconut, and walnuts.

Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop batter onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. Bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 2 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

Entries Tagged as 'cookies'