All posts tagged cookies

dear library: day three (I made you sugar cookies.)

by shannon on April 17, 2013 in desserts, general information and events with 23 Comments

piece of cake sugar cookies.

Dear Library,

I don’t love to admit this, but there was a time in my life that I didn’t think I needed you; I was wrong about that. After high school, and a few half-hearted attempts at college classes, I thought maybe living my life was way more important than learning things from books. I kept working full-time; no college for me, at least not at that point. I was burned out, needed a break, and if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I had zero ideas about what I really wanted to do with my life.

Looking back, I don’t think that was a bad move on my part. I still don’t understand how most kids know at the wee age of 18 what they want to do with the whole rest of their time on the planet. Some do: I have a friend whom I’ve known since middle school who always wanted to be a veterinarian, and she is – you guessed it – a veterinarian now. But it seems like most kids have roughly the same idea of their future at 18 years old as they did at 8, when their hearts were set on being astronauts or race car drivers. Continue reading →

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hamantaschen with peach-rosemary + raspberry-basil jam.

by shannon on February 25, 2013 in desserts with 32 Comments

hamantaschen with peach-rosemary + raspberry basil jam.

Confession: I like to know how to do things. This probably comes as no surprise to you, seeing as how I typically blog about how to do things like putting a crazy-tall layer cake or rolling out the perfect pretzel-shaped cookie. Also, I’ve noticed that the internets are awash with people feeling frustrated about things not working for them, and that bothers me; if I can, I like to help sort things out.

Some of you think I must be so kind, to spend all this time and energy on projects. Others remark on my seemingly limitless patience. I would love to tell you that I focus my efforts on undertakings out of the goodness of my heart, but people, that would be fiction. For what you see here is not necessarily patience, but rather a compulsive drive to know how to do things the best and the ability to ninja-focus until I get it right. It’s a little about learning, but it’s a lot about knowing lots of things. I like to master something, and I like to say “I know how to do that;” it’s just that simple.  So, sainthood = over, let’s get on with how to make some  excellent hamantaschen. Continue reading →

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buttermilk raspberry swirl ice cream sandwiches (part two of two)

by shannon on January 31, 2013 in desserts with 25 Comments

buttermilk raspberry swirl ice cream sandwiches, featuring homemade graham crackers.

If you thought yesterday’s post about the brown sugar graham cracker part of this was exciting, well: have I got a treat for you. I hope you readied your ice cream makers as instructed, because it’s time to make what is quite possibly my favorite fruit-swirled ice cream ever: raspberry buttermilk.

Buttermilk ice cream is sublime, especially for those of us for whom there exists a fine line between “delightfully sweet” and “toothache.” It has its own unique sweet tartness; certainly not lemony-tart, but with a tangy finish so refreshing in a world filled with overly sweet ice cream offerings. It’s a little more sophisticated, I think, but not so much that a kid (or an adult with kid-friendly tastes) would stick up their nose at it. The raspberry swirl adds to the sweet/tart balancing act, and the result is an ice cream approved for year-round use. Continue reading →

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brown sugar graham crackers (part one of two)

by shannon on January 30, 2013 in desserts with 18 Comments

brown sugar graham crackers.

I promised you graham crackers, and graham crackers you shall receive. This is part one of a two-part series on how to make some pretty excellent (and might I add, Valentine’s Day worthy) ice cream sandwiches. Even if you don’t end up making the buttermilk-raspberry ice cream I have coming up for you in part two, these are fitting for whatever you’d like to do with them. Eat them alongside your coffee, or hot chocolate, or whatever; I just ask that if you DO make ice cream sandwiches with them (and you’re not making your own ice cream), you buy the best you can find to do them justice.  Continue reading →

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1-2-3 cookies. (a.k.a. the embarrassing cake mix cookies)

by shannon on October 31, 2012 in desserts with 8 Comments

I promised I’d be back with a recipe for these things, and here I am, attempting to ignore the shame I feel inside. As far as cake mix cookies go, I do feel like these are pretty good, and here’s the thing: no one ever needs to know you made these from cake mix. Just don’t tell them. When people rave and swoon and otherwise go on and on about how your cookies taste incredible and how talented a baker you are, just smile and say thank you and know that you’re basically committing some sort of horrific crime against scratch baking. Continue reading →

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pear + cider crumble bars.

by shannon on September 19, 2012 in breakfast, brunch, desserts with 14 Comments

So we’ve all said our long goodbye (almost) to summer fruits, and have taken turns lamenting the disappearance of our nectarine, blueberry, and plummy friends. We will miss them; they never stay as long as we would like them to. We send them off with tears in our eyes, pressing our hand against the kitchen window. Goodbye, little fruits and vegetables. So long, sweet corn and tomatoes which make my home smell like a greenhouse. Fare thee well on your journey to next year, where we will see you again, glimmering and bright as always. Auf Wiedersehen, summer produce.

Because I’m done with you. It’s been chilly here and I am a fickle, fair-weather friend. Bring on the apples and pears and pumpkins and squash, farmers: I open my arms to you. Summer produce may be all vibrance and sizzle, but fall produce? It’s all subtleties. Sure, you have some sunset-hued apples in there, but for the most part, its matte-finished gourds and soft harvest goldens and greens. And that’s my kind of color scheme.  Continue reading →

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salted white chocolate macadamia cookies.

by shannon on September 13, 2012 in desserts, Uncategorized with 11 Comments

Let’s talk oven temperatures. Seems as though a little article on Slate Magazine has lots of us talking. I didn’t an instant reaction one way or the other, but the premise stayed in my head and wouldn’t leave, which means it bothered me somehow. “Really?” I thought, “Oven temperatures don’t matter? Surely this can’t be true.” And indeed, if you read the article, it’s not necessarily saying setting your oven to say, 350˚F is the same as setting it to 200˚F. What it does indicate, however, is that vague temperature settings would be a better indication what’s actually going on in there. I don’t disagree; however, I don’t agree with telling a large audience to ignore their oven settings and go for it. Here’s why. Please allow my cookies to serve as visual aids as we wander along. Continue reading →

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orange roll macaroons.

by shannon on August 30, 2012 in desserts with 16 Comments

I really thought this cookie was going to be easy. Rather, there was no indication I’d have to mess much with the recipe. I was just flipping through one of my Nigella cookbooks, saw something entitled “spanish macaroons” which sounded lovely to me, and so I thought I’d give them a go. No big deal, right? It’s just a cookie. And almond flour cookie, but I’ve made those before with minimal effort, so why would this be any different?

Well. It was different. It took me three batches to get this cookie right, and looking back, it was worth every single bit of almond-grinding, orange-zesting, and dough-rolling. Because these little darlings taste just like orange rolls – you know, the kind you can either get in the tube (and you know you love those, don’t get all food-snobby with me) or the sort you make from scratch on holidays and subsequently devour. Those orange rolls. Minus the trouble. Here we go. Continue reading →

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cranberry, date + walnut oatmeal cookies.

by shannon on August 23, 2012 in desserts with 16 Comments

Are the kids all safely back in school where you are? They are here, and holy sweet Mother Mary, I could not be happier about that. Kids cramp my style in the summer. Not my own, obviously; she’s too young to be in school and besides, I love her like crazy. I mean everyone else’s kids. You know the type: always out running around, heading to the pool or crowding up the stores with their boredom and unimpressed little faces. They have nowhere they have to be, really, and nothing in particular to be responsible for except keeping themselves alive and unhurt with fast food and Coppertone. Sometimes, I shake my fist at them and say “get a job, you little vagrants!” and then I remember: I’m 35, not 85. I need to chill. out. Continue reading →

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salted chocolate hazelnut cookies.

by shannon on August 9, 2012 in desserts with 15 Comments

Otherwise known as the vacation cookies we couldn’t get enough of this year. Maybe it was the salt. Perhaps it was the truly irresistible combination of chocolate and hazelnuts. Or maybe it’s that these cookies are large enough to be used as rafts or surfboards. One never knows why they love certain cookies as much as they do, but we were all drawn to these like addicts. When all was said and done, we had gobbled our way through two batches in one week. Do I feel bad about that? No. I was on vacation. I’d only feel bad about it if I did that in real life. Continue reading →

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