Tonight = Baking!
Dec. 24th, 2008 10:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sigmastolenYesterday mum made ginger snaps, but I didn't help -- JP and I were playing Gears of War. So this evening after dinner, partly Just Because and partly to pull myself out of an all-day grumpy mood, I baked. And now, because it's seasonal and I have to stay up to take stuff out of the oven, I'm going to share with you!
Things I made:
Eggnog Cookies (from the Mrs. Fields Best Ever Cookie Book)
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. (that's 1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/2 c. eggnog
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks (i promise separating eggs isn't hard)
*1 tbsp ground nutmeg (for topping)
Yield: about 3 dozen
Preheat oven to 300 deg. F
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg (1/2 tsp). Mix well with a wire whisk and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer to form a grainy paste. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks and beat at medium speed until smooth.
Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.
Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 1 inch apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg (the other 1 tbsp). Bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown. Transfer to cool, flat surface immediately with a spatula.
And because I didn't want to waste the egg whites...
Chocolate Meringue Puffs (also from the Mrs. Fields Best Ever Cookie Book, slightly altered -- 2/3 batch, because I had 2 egg whites sitting around instead of 3 (surprisingly easy to do, let me show you it), and using semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of a square of baking chocolate (1/3 c. which is about 2 oz. instead of 2/3 of 2 oz. but whatev) and using a ziploc baggie with the corner cut off because we don't have a pastry bag (the lack of fancy star tip makes the meringues look a little like cartoon poops but oh well))
2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate square (1 1/3 oz.)
3/4 c. powdered sugar, sifted (1/2 c.)
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (2 tbsp)
3 large egg whites (2 egg whites)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar (1/3 tsp)
1/2 c. granulated sugar (1/3 c.)
Yield: about 2 1/2 dozen (1 2/3 doz. or ~20 meringues)
Line cookie sheets with foil.
Finely chop baking chocolate square in a blender (or with a chef knife haha), and set aside.
In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and cocoa with a wire whisk.
In a medium bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer at medium speed until mixture thickens. Increase speed to high, while adding the granulated sugar slowly. Beat until mixture forms stiff peaks and turns glossy.
Gently fold in cocoa mixture and chopped making chocolate with a rubber spatula. Fold ingredients into egg whites until mixture is uniformly brown with no streaks.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip with the meringue. Pipe meringue in decorative shapes onto foil-lined cookie sheets. (the caption of the picture says, "if you don't have a pastry bag, drop the meringue by tablespoons onto the foil," which I didn't read until just now... but the ziploc was way more fun & messy.)
Prehear oven to 200 deg. F
Allow meringues to dry at room temperature for about 45 minutes or until not sticky. (Don't try making these on humid or rainy days.) (I probably should have read that bit first, as well. oops. Because they were probably still sticky, and it has been sprinkling today. Mine might turn out a bit chewy, that's all. I just took them out and a couple got a bit oozy I think.) Bake for 1 hour. When cool, remove from foil with a metal spatula.
And! As a bonus, and because I made the batter tonight to save time tomorrow morning: Easy Crepes (recipe given to me by my oboe friend Robert, who was to be my cooking-and-drink-mixing Yoda, except we both didn't really have time; he adorably spelled flour, "flower")
1/2 c. white flour
1/2 c. buckwheat flour (I usually use whole wheat because that's what I have; you could instead use 1 c. white flour and no wheat, but the wheat makes the crepes heartier)
1 tsp salt
1 c. milk (preferably 2% or whole) (I use whatever's on hand, usually skim, occasionally soy or rice milk; tonight, skim & lactose-free)
2 eggs
(2 tbsp brown sugar for dessert crepes) (omit this for savoury crepes. or if you simply don't have brown sugar, like I didn't tonight.)
All he did was scribble the ingredients for me, but it's pretty straightforward -- mix it all up, make v. thin pancake-things preferably in a crepe pan but if you haven't a crepe pan a skillet or frypan will do, be careful not to tear or fold them when you flip!, put stuff on them & fold them up, stick them in the oven for a bit, mostly to warm up the stuff & perhaps to crisp a little, serve. We're having them for breakfast tomorrow, with pancakes and blueberries and whipped cream (yeah I'm gonna whip us some cream tomorrow too eh) and I don't know what else. Usually I put nutella in as well but mum and i forgot to get nutella. We might use peanut butter? And you can make the batter early and refrigerate it or you can make the crepes early and refrigerate them -- just make sure to put wax paper in between so they don't stick together. So yeah. Yum.
So, there's some tasty goodness for you to try maybe! I know I've been gloomy and angsty, but let's all have some holiday cheer eh? Happy Holidays, flist! <3
Things I made:
Eggnog Cookies (from the Mrs. Fields Best Ever Cookie Book)
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. (that's 1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/2 c. eggnog
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks (i promise separating eggs isn't hard)
*1 tbsp ground nutmeg (for topping)
Yield: about 3 dozen
Preheat oven to 300 deg. F
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg (1/2 tsp). Mix well with a wire whisk and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer to form a grainy paste. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks and beat at medium speed until smooth.
Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.
Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 1 inch apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg (the other 1 tbsp). Bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown. Transfer to cool, flat surface immediately with a spatula.
And because I didn't want to waste the egg whites...
Chocolate Meringue Puffs (also from the Mrs. Fields Best Ever Cookie Book, slightly altered -- 2/3 batch, because I had 2 egg whites sitting around instead of 3 (surprisingly easy to do, let me show you it), and using semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of a square of baking chocolate (1/3 c. which is about 2 oz. instead of 2/3 of 2 oz. but whatev) and using a ziploc baggie with the corner cut off because we don't have a pastry bag (the lack of fancy star tip makes the meringues look a little like cartoon poops but oh well))
2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate square (1 1/3 oz.)
3/4 c. powdered sugar, sifted (1/2 c.)
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (2 tbsp)
3 large egg whites (2 egg whites)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar (1/3 tsp)
1/2 c. granulated sugar (1/3 c.)
Yield: about 2 1/2 dozen (1 2/3 doz. or ~20 meringues)
Line cookie sheets with foil.
Finely chop baking chocolate square in a blender (or with a chef knife haha), and set aside.
In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and cocoa with a wire whisk.
In a medium bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer at medium speed until mixture thickens. Increase speed to high, while adding the granulated sugar slowly. Beat until mixture forms stiff peaks and turns glossy.
Gently fold in cocoa mixture and chopped making chocolate with a rubber spatula. Fold ingredients into egg whites until mixture is uniformly brown with no streaks.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip with the meringue. Pipe meringue in decorative shapes onto foil-lined cookie sheets. (the caption of the picture says, "if you don't have a pastry bag, drop the meringue by tablespoons onto the foil," which I didn't read until just now... but the ziploc was way more fun & messy.)
Prehear oven to 200 deg. F
Allow meringues to dry at room temperature for about 45 minutes or until not sticky. (Don't try making these on humid or rainy days.) (I probably should have read that bit first, as well. oops. Because they were probably still sticky, and it has been sprinkling today. Mine might turn out a bit chewy, that's all. I just took them out and a couple got a bit oozy I think.) Bake for 1 hour. When cool, remove from foil with a metal spatula.
And! As a bonus, and because I made the batter tonight to save time tomorrow morning: Easy Crepes (recipe given to me by my oboe friend Robert, who was to be my cooking-and-drink-mixing Yoda, except we both didn't really have time; he adorably spelled flour, "flower")
1/2 c. white flour
1/2 c. buckwheat flour (I usually use whole wheat because that's what I have; you could instead use 1 c. white flour and no wheat, but the wheat makes the crepes heartier)
1 tsp salt
1 c. milk (preferably 2% or whole) (I use whatever's on hand, usually skim, occasionally soy or rice milk; tonight, skim & lactose-free)
2 eggs
(2 tbsp brown sugar for dessert crepes) (omit this for savoury crepes. or if you simply don't have brown sugar, like I didn't tonight.)
All he did was scribble the ingredients for me, but it's pretty straightforward -- mix it all up, make v. thin pancake-things preferably in a crepe pan but if you haven't a crepe pan a skillet or frypan will do, be careful not to tear or fold them when you flip!, put stuff on them & fold them up, stick them in the oven for a bit, mostly to warm up the stuff & perhaps to crisp a little, serve. We're having them for breakfast tomorrow, with pancakes and blueberries and whipped cream (yeah I'm gonna whip us some cream tomorrow too eh) and I don't know what else. Usually I put nutella in as well but mum and i forgot to get nutella. We might use peanut butter? And you can make the batter early and refrigerate it or you can make the crepes early and refrigerate them -- just make sure to put wax paper in between so they don't stick together. So yeah. Yum.
So, there's some tasty goodness for you to try maybe! I know I've been gloomy and angsty, but let's all have some holiday cheer eh? Happy Holidays, flist! <3
