Since my classes have ended I feel the need to fill every spare minute of my free time. It's like money burning a hole in someones pocket. As much as I complain I suck at handling free time without filling it up. So, to get in the Christmas spirit the girls and I have spent the past few days making Christmas cookies. On Wednesday we made chocolate chip, vegan oatmeal cookies with craisins and raisins (for Abs), chocolate chip with Macadamia nuts, macaroons with a dark chocolate drizzle and crushed macadamia nuts on top and chocolate covered macamadia nuts. I should note it took me four batches to get a decent round of the vegan cookies. Yesterday we made sugar, butter and jam thumb cookies and Peanut Butter kisses (with the hersheys kiss in the middle). So I now have a kitchen full of cookies and today we have our big bake-a-thon at my Moms to bake all the Christmas cookies for the family. We will be sick of cookies by December 26th.
Baking with my kids was quite a chore Wednesday. I didn't want them to get dirty or off schedule. I took on way too much for one day. And the kids were already cranky. Yesterday I decided we were going to have a little fun. After nap time I turned on I-Tunes, blared some music and got to cooking. The girls ate a ton of strawberry jam from a spoon and ended up covered in it. We danced, we sang and we baked. Sometimes I really have to remind myself to stop being such a square. Breaking the rules can be fun... even for a Mom. And who the hell says you can't give your kids tortilla chips with strawberry jam for dinner. ;D Let me tell you sugared up kids and a The Ting Tings makes for a fun afternoon.
Oh, here is my new FAVORITE cookie recipe:
BUTTER AND JAM THUMBPRINTS
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
2/3 cup sugar, plus more for rolling
1 large egg
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from pod, or 1/8 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup raspberry, cherry or strawberry jam (we did strawberry)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, whip the butter and the sugar with a hand-held mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing just until incorporated.
4. Scoop the dough into 1-inch balls with a cookie or ice cream scoop and roll in sugar. Place about 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press a thumbprint into the center of each ball, about 1/2-inch deep. Fill each indentation with about 3/4 teaspoon jam.
5. Bake cookies until the edges are golden, about 15 minutes. (For even color, rotate the pans from top to bottom about halfway through baking.) Cool cookies on the baking sheets. Serve.
6. Store cookies in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days.
From Food Network Kitchens
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2 comments:
Way to go on the baking! Everything sounds yummy. Minus the vegan oatmeal with raisins. But I'm sure they're good!
Those vegan cookies were surprisingly yummy!
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