Chocolate pretzels

Woo Who Rain! I'm only half kidding! But I made it into kitchen and made some yummy cookies. Aren't they cute? Little chocolate pretzels. This was a fun project for my little helper.  But he couldn't make the pretzel shape, so he made various shapes. The one that was his favorite was the "L" shape.  I wonder why?! ha ha. I paired these with a caramel sauce and they were fantastic. Way better then my complete mess up last week. 

Chocolate Pretzels:

1 cup flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup salted butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

sugar crystals

In a medium bowl combine the flour and cocoa powder. In a electric mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Then add the flour and cocoa powder mixture. Mix until combined. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze for 30 min. Preheat the oven to 375* Roll the dough into 20 small balls. Roll each ball into a rope. With each rope form a heart shape with the ends overlapping to cross in the center.  Sprinkle the cookies with some crystal sugar.  place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 12-15. transfer to a rack and let cool. 

I cheated and used pre-made caramel sauce that I had in my fridge for some ice cream.  But here is a link for some great caramel sauce that I make from time to time. Caramel Sauce from the food network.  I hope you enjoy these fun cookies!

What Cookies?

I took the last few weeks off since  it was super duper nice outside. Which living in Seattle we only get an average of 71 nice days a year. Now I gotta take advantage of it when I get it.  I buckled down and made cookies today- were they awesome? NO. Are they Rollin' Momma worthy? NO. So you don't get a recipe today.
In my 20 years of baking I have made thousands nay millions of cookies. I am here to tell you that mistakes have happened. Have I used baking powder instead of baking soda? yeah. Forgot the salt? yeah. Forgot 1/2 the butter? yeah. Forgot eggs? yeah. The list goes on and on. I'm not a perfect baker.With this particular recipe I did everything right and they were just not awesome. I wasn't sure what they were supposed to taste like and it just wasn't tasty. But I will remind you of some great tried and true recipes until next week.

• Lime Meltaways- this was one of the first cookie recipes that I perfected after many fails. I even burned my hand pulling them out of the oven when I was 15 and swore I was never taking anything out of the oven again!
• Ranger Cookies- Classic cookies with many different varieties  When I first made this cookie I was sceptical but they turned out to be Amazing!
• Homemade Samoas- With a little bit of work you too can have Samoas all year long!

Thanks for stopping by and I will have a new cookie recipe for next week's Cookie Thursday!

Lemon burst cookies

When I was  thinking up ideas for cookie Thursday I kinda came up blank. I looked outside and saw the rain and cloudy skies and wished for summertime. Then I thought of the most summery thing Lemon burst cookies! Then I realized I haven't done a cookie like this for cookie Thursday before. I added a little lavender- but I could have added more it has a small hint of lavender. This cookie come together fast and makes the house smell amazing!

Lemon Burst Cookies 

with a hint of lavender

1 stick unsalted butter- softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs- room temp*

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 lemons zested

1-3 TBS lavender buds** chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar- set aside

Preheat the oven to 350

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter and sugar for 3 min until fluffy. Then slowly add each egg at a time, and mix till incorperated, add the vanilla extract. In a seperate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, lemon zest and lavender buds. With the mixer on low slowly add the flour mixture and mix till just combined. Now roll the dough into tablespoon size balls and roll into the reserved powdered sugar. Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 13-15 min. Until domed up and lightly brown on the bottom.                                                                                               * to get cold eggs to room temp place them in a glass of warm water for 10 min      **I used 1 TBS  but next time I would use 3 TBS.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Rollin' Momma http://rollinmomma.blogspot.com/
Chocolate chip cookies are classic! 
They are always easy to whip up and one of my most favorite cookies. For this batch I used whole wheat flour. But using all purpose flour works out great too.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/4 cup + 2 TBS soft unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tso baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 oz chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350.
In the bowl of a electic mixer combine the butter and sugars. Beat together till fluffy about 3 min. Add the egg and beat till incorporated.  Scrape the sides and bottom down then add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Just mix till it comes together. Add the chocolate chips and combine. Spoon into rounded tablespoons on parchment lined sheet pans. Smash down into small disks. Bake for 10-13 mins. Rotate the pans half way through the baking process. I got about 25 cookies. They are so so yummy enjoy!

Homemade Tagalongs

Last week I made homemade samoas. Now it's only fitting that I make my 2nd favorite kind of girl scout cookies this week. Tagalongs are the peanut butter patties covered in chocolate with a cookie crunch. This cookie will be less involved then the samoas. Tagalongs use the same shortbread cookie base as the samoas so you could make both cookies in the same day if you wanted to.

Shortbread cookie:

1 cup  unsalted butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups  flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
In the bowl of a mixer combine the butter and sugar and beat till light and fluffy- about 3min. In a different bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Once the butter/sugar is ready add the flour in 4 parts making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Once all the flour is in, add the milk and vanilla. Mix till combined (not very long)- At this point the cookie dough is made and needs to be chilled in the fridge for about 1 hour. Once the dough is chilled it will be ready to roll out to 1/4 inch thick and cut out. All you need is 1 large round cookie cutter. Bake them at 350 for 10-12 min. turning half way through. I got 3 1/2 dozen cookies. 


Peanut Butter Filling:
8oz peanut butter- creamy
1 cup powdered suagr
1-2 TBS milk
In a large bowl combine the peanut butter and sugar together. This will take some muschle - so if you have a electric mixter just toss it all in there, and beat with a paddle. If the mixer is too dry add a little milk as needed to make it plyable and easy to work with. 

2 cups dark chocolate chips - (or milk if you prefer)

Assembly:
Once the peanut butter filling is made I bet your cookies have cooled. I found the easiest way to get the fillling on the cookie was using a pastry bag (if you don't have one you can use a plastic baggie and cut a smallish hole in the tip) and just pipe a small mound of filling and press down with your fingers. Now melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. The easiest way to dip the cookies would be to dunk in and completely cover and fish out with a fork  and let the excess chocolate drip off. Then set back on the sheet pan coveed with parchment, wax paper or even plastic wrap. After all the cookies are dipped let them dry and enjoy. 

Homemade Samoas

  I always thought of Girl Scout cookies of magical and mysterious cookies that nobody could make. But not anymore, I have cracked the code! Beginning with the hardest cookie to make in my opinion Samoas. In my world there are really only 3 kinds of girl scout cookies- Samoas, Tagalongs, and Thin Mints. I know it's really easy to just buy some cookies from the lovely girls scouts. But what happens when the cookies are all gone?  Now with a little preparation and a little time you too can make your own samoas!
Lets get started this one has a ton of steps-

Shortbread cookie:
1 cup  unsalted butter, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups  flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
In the bowl of a mixer combine the butter and sugar and beat till light and fluffy- about 3min. In a different bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Once the butter/sugar is ready add the flour in 4 parts making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Once all the flour is in, add the milk and vanilla. Mix till combined (not very long)- At this point the cookie dough is made and needs to be chilled in the fridge for about 1 hour. Once the dough is chilled it will be ready to roll out to 1/4 inch thick and cut out. All you need is 1 large round cookie cutter and 1 smaller round cookie cutter. I didn't have a small one - but I did have a small heart- it worked out just fine. Bake them at 350 for 10-12 min. turning half way through. I got 3 1/2 dozen cookies. 

Caramely Coconuty Topping:
3 cups sweetened coconut shredded
15 oz store-bought or Homemade Caramel
3 TBS milk
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate 
If you are making the caramel try out this recipe Homemade Caramels. I did just because I had everything I needed, and I like to make things way harder then they are supposed to be. The only thing I didn't have was the heavy cream (kinda important in caramel) so I made my own heavy cream. Might I add probably not the best idea, but it worked out alright. 
To toast the coconut preheat the oven to 350 and spread it along a cookie sheet, bake for about 10 min turning half way. Coconut burns really easy so watch it.  If you bought caramels then melt them in the microwave or double boiler, add the milk and toasted coconut- if it's too thick add a little more milk.
 How to assemble:
Now that the cookies are baked and cooled, while the caramel coconut filling is still warm pour into a plastic bag and cut a smallish hole, big enough to let the coconut through but not too big that it's hard to control. and now pipe the topping in a circle shape onto the cookie. Once you have done a whole tray go back through and with a spoon flatten the topping out to the edges, it should begin to cool by this time.

The finishing touches:  Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave or double boiler, and dip each cookie in only covering the bottom half of the cookie. With a spoon drizzle the tops of the cookie with chocolate stripes. WOW! now that was a handful ! let the chocolate dry on the cookies and enjoy!

Ranger Cookies

Ranger cookies have been around since the 1950's. I heard of them them a few years back when I was working at a small bakery. They had made them in the past, but had been taken out of the rotation  Anyways I put them out of my head till a few days ago when I was brainstorming for cookie Thursday. Turns out that there is a ton of stuff in ranger cookies including oats, coconut, chocolate and cereal. For the kiddos they are great with a glass of milk, for the adults maybe a cup of coffee would complement them well. These cookies are easy to assemble and this batch makes about 4 dozen medium sized cookies.

Ranger Cookies:

1 cup  butter soft
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
2  eggs
2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup  rolled oats 
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup  chocolate chunks
3 cups  rice cereal - I used rice chex

In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder. In the bowl of a electric mixer combine the butter, sugars, vanilla and salt. Beat on medium speed for about 3 min, then add the eggs one at a time. Once everything is incorperated scrape down the sides. Add the flour mix and combine. Then add the oats, coconut, chocolate chunks and rice chex and lightly mix. Preheat the oven to 350 and line baking pans with parchment or lightly spray. Scoop the cookies into mounded tablespoons and lightly flatten. Then bake for 10-14 min till light brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool for a few and enjoy! They are so yummy! 

Pecan Melt Cookies

Mixer Surgery

I was lucky that I made cookies for cookie Thursday before my mixer broke down. It was mixing fine until it wasn't. That is how fast it takes for a gear to break. That turned into another project called- lets try and figure out whats wrong with the mixer... hours later I learned that it was a $5 gear that I needed to replace. I was so happy that I didn't have to get a new mixer. In a way I'm glad that I took the whole thing apart, cause now I know the inner workings of my mixer.
Now on with the yummy pecan chocolate cookies. This original recipe came from Martha Stewart and used walnuts only. But I saw potental in changing the nuts and adding chocolate. I also used half whole wheat flour and half white flour. They still turned out great. If you don't have pecans you could use almonds, hazelnuts or even walnuts. Let's get on with Cookie Thursday!

This dough has no eggs in it so it's safe to eat raw. 

Pecan Melt Cookies:
Adapted from Martha Stewart's- cream cheese walnut cookies
6oz cream cheese (not whipped) at room temp
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
 2 TBS vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips, chopped
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces toasted and chopped fine
1 cup pecan pieces chopped fine

Combine the flours, and salt. Set aside. Cream butter and cream cheese in a electric mixer for 2 min till light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar and the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the flour/salt. Mix to combine don't overmix. Then fold in the toasted pecans (cooled) and chocolate pieces.

Take the dough out of the bowl and divide into 2 logs, rolling in parchment paper or plastic wrap. Freeze till firm about 30 min.  While the dough is chilling preheat the oven to 350. Unwrap 1 log and roll in 1/2 cup of the remaining pecans and repeat with the other log. Cut the log into 1/4 inch thick rounds, and arrange on a cookie sheet with parchment. they don't spread much so they can be fairly close to each other.  Bake the cookies for 15-19 min  until golden around the edge (don't forget to rotate the pan half way through- ALWAYS do this with cookies) This makes about 4 dozen cookies. I only baked 1 log and I am saving the other log for later. Since we have cookies every week I try and not have too many around.

Italian Orange Cookies

I'm staying true with my cookie Thursdays. I've strayed from the basic and moved to European  These cookies remind me of the tins that my grandma would buy that had all the European cookies. This is a thick batter that gets piped into a swirl pattern. Also I would try it with lemon instead of orange. For this cookie you will need a plastic bag and a large star shaped pastry tip. This cookie is a bit drier and not too sweet. A great cookie with tea or coffee. On with Cookie Thursdays!

Italian Orange Cookies:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

It's a very thick dough

1 cup polenta or cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter- 8 oz soft
2/3 cup sugar
1 TBS orange zest
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350
In a meduim bowl whisk together flour, polenta and salt

They don't really spread too much. 

In the bowl of a electric mixer add the butter, sugar and orange zest. Beat till light and fluffy about 3 min. Then slowly add the egg, and beat, then add the egg yolk and vanilla.  Slowly add the flour mixture and beat till combined. Now time for the fun part- piping the dough into a swirl shape or be creative, make a C or a S.  Just make sure you line the baking sheet with parchment, and space the shapes about 1 inch apart, they don't spread much. Once you are all done piping the cookies place them in the freezer to set up for 20 min or so. Bake the cookies for 12-15 min or until the edges are golden, make sure to rotate the pan half way through.

Old Fashioned Cookies

I'm rolling out a new idea. Cookie Thursdays! Yup that's right I'm gonna do it until I run out of cookies to make. Lukas has been having fun making cookies with me and with that I have decided that we will make it a weekly thing. I'll have to plan to give some away, since cookies every week could be dangerously yummy.
First I'm starting with Old Fashinoned Chocolate drop cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (soft)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 TBS Vanilla extract
Crystal Sugar for rolling
In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together. As Lukas Demonstrates in the photo below.

In the bowl of a electric mixer add the butter and sugar. Beat them on meduim speed till light and fluffy about 3 min. Add the eggs and vanilla, beat to combine.

yes 3 min is a L-O-N-G time!

With the mixer on a low speed slowly add the flour cocoa powder mixture. Continue to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl to completely mix the dough. Divide the dough in two, and roll into logs and wrap in either parchment paper or plastic wrap. Chill in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. 

While the Dough is chilling preheat the oven to 350. Once the dough is chilled slice each log up. I went for big cookies and cut my logs into 9 pieces each. It would be easy to make at least double that and have good sized cookies.  After slicing the logs roll each cookie into a ball and roll in crystal sugar. Place 1 1/2 inches apart.Bake on parchment lined cookie sheets  for 10-13 min turning the pan half way through baking. Cookies can be stored for up to one week covered, if they last that long. If you don't want to bake them all at once the cookie dough can be frozen for 6 months.  I made 1 1/2 dozen cookies, but they were huge! 
 So next time I would make 3 dozen for regular size cookies.

12 Days of Homemade Gifts- Day 1

 For years now I have just made simple gifts for my family and friends. I think the personal touch makes it that more special. I know not everyone is super crafty, but that's the beauty in it you don't have to be. Everyone has special talents. For example I don't know how to knit- no big deal, but I can cook and sew. I will obviously pick something from one of my strong categories.  Since I have so much to say about each item I figured I would break it up into 12 days of gifts. I have found  great inexpensive gift ideas for your friends and family. They will save you stress and money this season.

For day 1 I picked Cookies! This is a ageless gift. People have been making holiday cookies for friends and neighbors for a long time. It's fun to decorate sugar cookies with colorful sprinkles and icing. Or if you don't have time to decorate cookies then the basic "drop" cookie will suit your needs. Here are a few good recipes.

• Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies- I love making these anytime of the year. They are always a hit.
• Gingerbread Cookies- Make those cute little men, or a house.
• Sugar Cookies- Great for rolling and cutting out and decorating with icing and sprinkles.
• Swedish Dreams - Oh so easy and airy, like you are eating a cloud in your dreams. 
• Rum Balls- This recipe combines brownies and Rum! How could you say no to that?!
• Russian Tea Cakes- or Mexican Wedding cakes either way they are nutty and buttery. Very similar to my Lime Meltaways
• Zandkoekjes- Is Dutch for "Sand Cookies" because they are crumbly and the color of sand. 

I hope that these cookie recipes help you in you quest for Holiday Cookie Domination. I will be doing my share of cookie baking and decorating this year -at home and work. Cheers until tomorrow to continue my 12 days of Homemade gifts. check out day 2 here 12-days-of-homemade-day-2

Energy Bars

I came across this recipe when flipping through cookbooks at the library. Wow so great! This energy bar is full of protein and nutrients. The best part is you can add any kind of nuts and dried fruit. I kept it pretty traditional with raisins and almonds this time. Next time I plan to use figs and pecans.

Raisins, Oat, Almonds, Honey, Butter

Energy Bars:
Adapted from Green Market Baking Book
1/4 cup Salted Butter
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup Milk
1 TBS vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups oat flakes
1 cup chopped almonds
2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/3 cup honey

Preheat the oven to 350*

Toasted Oats and Almonds

Spray the sides and bottom of a square baking dish.  Rehydrate the raisins in the milk and vanilla let sit till plump about 15 min.  Melt the butter in a large pan on medium heat, add the oats and almonds toss to toast for about 5 min-  make sure to keep stirring. Add the cinnamon and cook for 1 min longer. Pull off the heat.  Add the eggs and honey to raisin mixture, mix well, then add to the oat raisin mixture. Stir till evenly combined. Spread the mixture into the baking dish, and bake till golden brown and pulling away from the sides about 20 - 30 minutes. Cool before cutting. They will keep for 1 week. I know they won't last that long here!

Lime Meltaways

This cookie is by far my Dad's favorite cookie in the whole wide world! On the other side of the spectrum this cookie almost changed my career path. One time while making these cookies about 11 or 12 years ago I burned my hand when pulling them out of the oven. I screamed "I AM NEVER PUTTING MY HAND IN A OVEN EVER AGAIN!!" Yeah luckily I got over that, I reach into ovens all day.  Since lime meltaways are my dad's favorite cookie he begs me all the time to make them. I got the recipe while watching The Martha Stewart Show back in the day. When I was reading the new issue of Martha Stewart Magazine and saw the recipe it reminded me that I should be a good daughter and send some to my dad. It also helps that limes are on sale this weekend since it's Cinco De Mayo.

Lime Meltaways!
adapted from Martha Stewart
1 cup of Salted butter Softened to room temp
2/3 cup powdered sugar
 3 small limes zested and juiced
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 TBS cornstarch
1/3 cup powdered sugar

To get the most juice, first soften in the microwave for 15 sec, then roll on the counter. 

Preheat oven 350*
In a mixer beat butter with 2/3 cup powdered sugar till light and fluffy. Add lime zest, juice and vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl for even mixing. Whisk flour and cornstarch together, then add to creamed butter and sugar. Beat on low speed till dough comes together. This dough is super sticky!

Traditionally this cookie is rolled into a log and then frozen, then sliced thin. But I am doing 2 other methods, first  is rolling the dough between 2 pieces of parchment, then chilling for 30 min, after chilled use a cookie cutter.

Or dropping the cookie by tablespoons onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and lightly flatten them with your palm.

Bake till light golden in color, pull form the oven and let sit about 5 min. While still hot coat in the reserved 1/3 cup powdered sugar.

Since this cookie doesn't have raw eggs, it's a great batter to eat before baking!

Little Lime stars! Just melt in your mouth!