Tag Archives: Baking

Jan 02 2013
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Adventures in Baking, We Eat Well

Girl’s Day: good friends, cheap wine, and fresh-baked cookies

It’s not often that I set aside time to spend with my girlfriends. Between my full-time job, volunteer activities, freelance writing, housekeeping and spending time with Jon, my hands are full, but last weekend, I devoted an entire day to spending time with friends. The plan was to get together to bake, watch movies, and hang out in our jammies. We ended up drinking more wine than anything else, but I had such a wonderful time. Every girl needs girlfriends. Thank you Christie and Amber for being mine. Oh, we let Clyde hang out with us too. He’s just too cute to exclude.

We did manage to bake two kinds of cookies. The recipes are below. Enjoy!

Photos by Amber Sturgis.

Brown Sugar Blueberry Cookies with Almonds and Coconut, The Ginger Kitchen- 7/6/11

Holiday Peppermint Cookies, Cooks.com

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Apr 25 2011
2 Comments
We Eat Well

Scrumptious Butter Cookies

Saturday evening Jon baked up a storm while I was out with the girls. What a sweetheart! And these cookies are excellent! Light, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, delightful!

  • 1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tablespon almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
  • About 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups sliced almonds

In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat 1 cup butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg yolk, almond extract, and orange peel and beat until well blended.

In another bowl, mix 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture; stir to mix, then beat until well blended. Gather dough into a ball, divide in half, and flatten each portion into a disk; wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and freeze until firm enough to roll without sticking, about 30 minutes.

Unwrap dough. Use a spoon to scoop dough and form one inch balls with your hands. Roll balls in sugar and then dip the top half in chopped almond slivers. Place about 2 inches apart on buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheets and flattened with the bottom of a glass.

Bake cookies in a 325º regular or convection oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes; if baking two sheets at once in one oven, switch their positions halfway through cooking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide spatula to transfer to racks to cool completely.

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Mar 28 2011
5 Comments
We Eat Well

Maple Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

We don’t bake often, but today I saw a recipe from Serious Eats for Vermont Maple Cookies and I just had to have them. (Jon and I were married in Vermont, after all). I adapted the recipe slightly and whipped up some cream cheese frosting to make cookie sandwiches. The cookies alone are outstanding… stacked one on top of the other with ooey gooey frosting in between…out of this world. The slight hint of maple coupled with the texture of the cream cheese frosting is a perfect combination.

Maple Cookies

  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set to the side. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla, once again mixing until smooth and light. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add it in 2-3 increments, alternating by adding the maple syrup (begin and end with the flour mixture), stirring after each addition. Between additions, pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto your prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2 inches around each cookie to allow for spreading. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until golden around the edges and with a dull finish on top. If desired sandwich two cookies with frosting of your choice in the middle to serve.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar.

*Note- I cut this recipe in half. It produces more frosting than you will need for these cookies.

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