Sweets to bestow on your sweeties — or yourself
Lacey Krause
Originally published 01:12 p.m., January 23, 2008
Updated 01:12 p.m., January 23, 2008
I’m not a great chef, or even a great cook.
I haven’t been cooking for all that long, and the idea of having multiple pans simmering, stir-frying and seasoning sometimes sends a shiver down my spine. My pies burn around the edges and my quick breads fall flat in the middle.
Cookies, however, are comfort. Being covered in flour makes me feel as if I’m connected to something — to the idea of grandmothers in the kitchen whipping up goodies; to birthday cakes and wedding cakes; to cookies wrapped up and delivered to loved ones at Christmas time.
I love knowing that in a time of stress, relief is only one batch of meticulously rolled-out sugar cookies away. I feel at ease when the kitchen is filled with flour and sugars, nuts and chips, large eggs and unsalted butter. I get a lot of simple pleasure out of a well-stocked spice rack.
I’m also the first to admit I have a hard time resisting the holiday baking display at the grocery store. I am drawn to cookie cutters and tubes of frosting like a moth to a flame, dreaming of cute confections almost too pretty to eat. Around holidays I start trolling the Martha Stewart Web site, searching for piles of gorgeous cookies covered in royal icing and fine sanding sugar.
In honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day — which is certainly a time of stress for some — I tried out a few cookie recipes to share with you.
Peanut Butter
X’s and O’s
I wasn’t sure whether my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe would hold together well enough to withstand being rolled out sugar cookie-style. I decided not to chance it, and instead started with this recipe from Cooks.com:
Cookies:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
Toppings and supplies:
1 bag M&M’s chocolate candies for Valentine’s Day
Alphabet cookie cutters
Red and white frosting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg and white sugar. Mix flour, baking soda and salt together. Blend all ingredients until well mixed. Divide dough into 3 balls, wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 3 hours. (I refrigerated mine overnight and they were fine.) On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out cookies. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Frost the cookies and then top with M&Ms.
Alternate endings: Instead of starting from scratch, use 1 bag of pre-made cookie mix, adding two additional tablespoons of flour to the dough. If you don’t have alphabet cookie cutters, print simple X’s and O’s from your computer and trace onto posterboard to cut out and use as a template. Roll out the dough between two waxed paper sheets, trace your X’s and O’s using your template and cut out with a knife.
Valentine
Cookie Pops
This recipe, modified from Familycorner.com, claims to be good to do with children. I didn’t have any children available to test it; however, I would suggest that the adults handle dipping the pops into the heated chocolate.
Cookie Pops:
20 vanilla wafer cookies
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 oz. white chocolate chips
6 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
Toppings and supplies: Any of the following: Colored candy sprinkles; pink and red gummy bears; tubes of cake decorator writing gel or frosting in pink, red, black and white; candy hearts.
Ice cream or lollipop sticks (I would suggest using flat tongue-depressor-type sticks; I used round lollipop sticks and thus had to use a lot more peanut butter to get the stick to stay in the middle of the two cookies)
Wax paper
Spread peanut butter onto the flat side of the half of cookies. Place an ice cream stick into the peanut butter. Top with another cookie so the stick is sandwiched between the two cookies. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave for one minute, then in 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Dip cookie pops into the melted chips, covering completely. Roll pops in sprinkles or lay on wax paper to decorate. Place in refrigerator to chill.
Alternate endings: Divide white chocolate chips into two bowls before melting, adding a few drops of red food coloring to one bowl to make pink chocolate. Using icing, decorate with Valentine messages like “Love” and “Hug.” Instead of dipping, drizzle white and semi-sweet chocolate onto the cookie. Consider using vanilla or chocolate frosting for the filling if you dislike peanut butter or have an allergy.
Cinnamon
Heart Rings
Cookies:
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 bag Red Hot cinnamon candy
Toppings and supplies:
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp. water
Decorative sugars
Red hot candy
Food processor or blender
Using a food processor (or, in my case, the blender because our food processor is from the 1970s and I can’t figure it out), crush the cinnamon candy into a powder and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter and confectioners’ sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix well. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; blend into the butter mixture. Blend in red hot candy powder. Divide dough into thirds and shape into balls. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Roll a walnut-sized nugget of dough into an 8-inch strand. Form the strand into a heart and place on a cookie pan. Repeat until all the dough has been shaped into hearts. Place the cookie pan in the freezer for 15 minutes. Remove from freezer and bake immediately for 8-10 minutes in an oven preheated at 350 degrees. Cool completely.
Prepare the glaze by dissolving the confectioners’ sugar in water. Spoon glaze over each cookie and sprinkle with decorative sugars. Attach red hot candies with drops of glaze.
Alternate endings: Use pre-made sugar cookie dough, preparing as directed, and add an additional 1/4 cup flour. If you prefer, frost with white frosting instead of glazing; consider adding a bit of cinnamon extract to the frosting.