Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

Chocolate Mint Wafers

Believe it or not but the vast majority of my Christmas baking is done. This is a record. In the end we made 54 types of cookies and squares.

Yes. We are insane.

In case you're wondering . . . at last count we had gone through 35 pounds of butter.

People say 'dear lord, what do you do with all of those cookies?'

The reality is that we give most of it away. I donated 18 dozen to the silent auction at work and they raised $ 100 for the Kid's Help Phone. We have given 9 large tins of cookies away as gifts already and there are about 12 more to go. Today I brought 4 platters with about 12 dozen cookies, squares, and tarts into the office - they were devoured in close to an hour.

Sure, some of them manage to sneak into my mouth but not many.

Anyway. One of the new recipes that we tried this year was these chocolate mint wafers. The recipe is from Taste of Home (sent to them by a Canadian who lives about an hour from us). To be honest i've thought of making them for a few years but generally have lost steam before I got around to it. For whatever reason this year I found the energy.

I'm glad that I did for these are wonderful cookies. If you're like me and you adore the combination of peppermint and chocolate you'll want to give these a try.

Chocolate Mint Wafers

2/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
FILLING:
2-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup half-and-half cream
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Green food coloring

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add milk and egg; mix well. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.

On a floured surface, roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a 1-1/2-in. cookie cutter and place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 5-6 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Combine filling ingredients; spread on bottom of half of the cookies and top with remaining cookies. Yield: about 7-1/2 dozen.

Linzer Cookies

The Christmas baking continues . . .

At one time we baked from recipes passed down from one generation to the next or from recipes given to us by friends and neighbors. Today we have access to recipes from around the world and are able to cross boundaries and bake desserts that were once unfamiliar to us. An example of this is the Linzertorte which is one of Austria's most famous desserts. Believed to have originated in the City of Linz, written recipes began to appear in the early 1700s. Traditionally this torte consisted of a crust made with flour, ground nuts (traditionally almonds), sugar, egg yolks, spices and lemon zest that was filled with preserves (traditionally black currant) and then topped with a lattice crust

Linzer Cookies use the same ingredients as the Linzertorte but present them in a different way; that is, two cookies are sandwiched together with a layer of preserves or jam. Traditionally these cookies are filled with black currant preserves but as black currant preserves are hard to find in North America we usually fill them with a variety of different flavored preserves, most notably raspberry. The top cookie, dusted with confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, has a cutout so the preserves are visible.

A few years ago I picked up a set of linzer Christmas cookie cutters but never used them. I imagined that it was a complicated thing to do so the box of cutters sat in the back of the cupboard gathering dust.

This year I seem to be ahead of myself when it comes to baking. Feeling the freedom of extra time (and plenty of vacation days) I decided to pull the cutters out from their hiding spot where they had been languishing and try this famous cookie myself. Of course you know what happened - I discovered that they were not all that hard to make and am kicking myself for not having attempted this treat sooner!

I found this recipe, based upon one by Dorie Greenspan,  online - it uses all of the traditional ingredients of linzertorte execpt for the lemon zest.

If you have a set of these cutters hiding away ( or even if you don't - I've included the instructions for what to do if you do not have the special cutters) you should pull them out and give these gems a try!

Linzer Cookies

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking

Makes about 20 to 24 sandwich cookies

1 1/2 C ground almonds or hazelnuts
1 1/2 C AP flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
Raspberry or strawberry jam
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

If you're starting from raw hazelnuts, toast them in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Then transfer them to a kitchen towel and use to towel to rub off as much of the skin as possible. Transfer the skinned hazelnuts to a bowl and shake out the towel outside so the skins don't fly everywhere.

If you're starting with raw almonds, follow these instructions to blanch them. Squeeze the nuts out of the skin and toast them in a 350 degree oven until they are dry and lightly golden but not browned, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Cool the nuts completely before grinding them. Pulse them in a the food processor until they are finely ground.

Whisk the ground nuts, flour, cinnamon, salt and salt together in a mixing bowl, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the vanilla and almond extract. Add half of this to the butter, beat and scrape down the bowl, beat until combined then add the rest of the egg mixture. Continue to beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until all the ingredients have been combined.

Divide the dough in half, shape each piece into a disc, and wrap in plastic wrap and chill, 2 hours in the fridge or 45 minutes in the freezer (the dough can be stored for in the fridge for 3 days or 2 months in the freezer).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Keep one disc of dough in the fridge and roll out the other disc. Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 in thick. Cut out as many cookies as the dough can fit. Gather up the scraps with the second disc of dough and continue to roll out the dough and cut out the cookies. Cut out the centers of half the cookies.

Transfer the cookies to the baking sheet and bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until the cookies are golden, dry, and firm to the touch. The cookies don't spread so they don't have to be spaced out too far apart. Cool the cookie sheets completely before baking a second batch.

Heat up some jam in the microwave or on the stove top until it is warm. Spread about a half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of jam on the cookie and place a cookie with a cutout center on top. Lightly dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Chocolate-tipped Butter Cookies

It is beginning to seem like Christmas around here - well, except for the weather but there is no way I'll be complaining about THAT! No. Not ever.

The lights are up, the house is decorated, I attended the first of many planned Christmas parties last night, and today was the first vacation day I took off of work so that I could bake. Thank heavens I have the flexibility to take vacation time to get ready for Christmas. That is another thing that you won't see me complaining about!

I was busy today. I made David Lebovitz's incredible Chocolate Matzoh Crunch and 6 types of cookies. I do believe I know why my back hurts and I feel exhausted.

Hmmm

One of the cookies that I made today was a 'new' recipe. When I was surfing about on the net I saw a picture of a cookie that looked like one my grandmother used to make. There is something about the happy festive memories at Grandma's house that made me want to attempt these. The cookies were easy to make and I hate to say it . . . better than I remembered!

Mind you - I dipped the cookies in bittersweet chocolate. As anyone will tell you - everything is better with bittersweet chocolate! I doubt that Grandma had even heard of bittersweet chocolate!

The cookies themselves are like a rich shortbread which you then dip in chocolate. Before the chocolate solidifies you sprinkle the dipped end with chopped nuts (we used peanuts) and then you set them aside to cool (if you can wait! LOL).

Lord. These were good. I think that we have a new festive tradition in our house!

Chocolate-tipped Butter Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (6 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortening
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. stir in vanilla extract. Gradually add flour; mix well. Divide dough into sixths; cover and chill dough 1 hour.

Work with one portion of dough at a time, keeping remaining dough chilled. Shape dough into 2 1/2 x 1/2-inch sticks. Place on un-greased cookie sheets. Flatten three-quarters of each cookie lengthwise with tines of a fork to 1/4 inch thickness. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 14 minutes.

Remove to wire racks to cool.

Combine chocolate chips and shortening in top of a double boiler; bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook until chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Remove double boiler from heat, leaving chocolate mixture over hot water. Dip un-flattened tips of cookies in warm chocolate to coat both sides; roll tips in chopped pecans. Place cookies on wire racks until chocolate is firm.

Arrange cookies between layers of wax paper in an airtight container; store in a cool place.

White Chocolate Dried Blueberry Cookies

The other day I was searching a cookie recipe to bake . . . I had lots of white chocolate chips that needed to be used up and had found three packages of dried blueberries (don't bother to ask how that happened!) I found a recipe that would allow me to use up some of both - how efficient is that?

These cookies were very easy to make - really they were just like traditional chocolate chip cookies except with the addition of white chocolate chips and the dried blueberries. The taste was incredible - the combination of white chocolate and the strong blueberry taste was amazing!

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Dried Blueberry Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 white chocolate chips
2/3 cup dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 375F. Line  baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour mixture, followed by the white chocolate chips and dried blueberries.

Drop tablespoonfuls of dough (1-inch balls) onto prepared baking sheet. Flatten with a flat-bottomed glass (dip the base of the glass in flour so the cookie won't stick to the bottom)

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are just beginning to turn a light golden color around the edges. Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet until cookies are completely set, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container

Makes about 4 dozen.

OBD

Have you voted in the photo contest?

Four of our trip pictures have been entered in a photo contest run by the good folks at easycar.com. Oh happy day - all four photos are currently in the top 10 out of 370 photos. You can vote for each by clicking here, (remember 10 is a good vote! *smile*)  here, here, and here.

Yes, you CAN vote for all four photos.

You can only vote once from any given IP address - this means you can vote once for EACH pic from both at home and at work! If you have two computers networked at home, you can only vote on one of them, however. If you have a Blackberry though, that is a third vote. If you send these links to friends, relatives, or people who bug you with unwanted e-mails - just think of the of votes! It boggles the mind.

Heck, do what I do - vote at every hotel, conference centre, and friend's house in which you find a PC attached to the internet. Don't be shy at all. :-)

---

My pal Palma tells me that I have a disorder! ACK ACK ACK

Happily it won't kill me, at least not directly.

She claims that I have OBD, also known as obsessive baking disorder. Those of you who know Palma will smile at the thought of her calling anyone obsessive . . . hello pot . . .! Anyone who can host a sit down dinner for 48 at her house is the queen of obsessions, but I digress.

What does this disorder look like? What are the symptons?

Well, I imagine that it is different for everyone but this is a good sign that you have OBD:

32 containers of cookies, squares, and candies. All of them homemade in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

In addition, you panic that you might run out of baked treats so you have this in your freezer:

Logs of frozen cookie dough just waiting to be thawed, sliced, baked, and enjoyed. These are far tastier than any Pillsbury cookie logs, Sandi!

There you have it, two very strong indicators that you minght have OBD.

There is a third and final sympton though. This one closes the deal, in my opinion. If your Christmas cookie tray looks like this:

and you have made everything yourself, run and get help! It isn't too late.

Seriously though, there has been a lot of baking taking place in our household. We don't eat all of these cookies ourselves, instead we give most of them away. Nothing says I like you like a tin full of delicious Xmas baking!

Have a happy Christmas!

Rainbow Cookies

Have you voted in the photo contest?

Four of our trip pictures have been entered in a photo contest run by the good folks at easycar.com. Oh happy day - all four photos are currently in the top 10 out of 370 photos. You can vote for each by clicking here, (remember 10 is a good vote! *smile*)  here, here, and here.

Yes, you CAN vote for all four photos.

You can only vote once from any given IP address - this means you can vote once for EACH pic from both at home and at work! If you have two computers networked at home, you can only vote on one of them, however. If you have a Blackberry though, that is a third vote. If you send these links to friends, relatives, or people who bug you with unwanted e-mails - just think of the of votes! It boggles the mind.

Heck, do what I do - vote at every hotel, conference centre, and friend's house in which you find a PC attached to the internet. Don't be shy at all. :-)

---

My grandmother used to make these cookies when I was younger - although she stopped as I got older - likely because they were too fiddly for her arthritic hands. Ever since I found the recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook I've wanted to try them but I was afraid of the recipe - it just seems intimidating!

This week, in my frenzy of festive baking, I decided to throw caution to the wind and revisit my childhood. I discovered that these cookies aren't hard to make - as long as you work through each of the steps carefully.

Paul gave them the 'sampler' test tonight and decided that they were wonderful! When I tried my first one I closed my eyes and was immediately transported back to my childhood Christmases at my grandmother's house.

Enjoy!

Rainbow Cookies

1 can (8 ounces) almond paste
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 to 8 drops red food coloring
6 to 8 drops green food coloring
1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam
1/4 cup apricot jam
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Grease the bottoms of three matching 13-in. x 9-in. baking pans (or reuse one pan). Line the pans with waxed paper; grease the paper. 

Place almond paste in a large mixing bowl; break up with a fork. Cream with butter, sugar and egg yolks until light, fluffy and smooth. Stir in flour. In another mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into dough, mixing until thoroughly blended. 

Divide dough into three portions (about 1-1/3 cups each). Color one portion with red food coloring and one with green; leave the remaining portion uncolored. Spread each portion into the prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. 

Invert onto wire racks; remove waxed paper. Place another wire rack on top and turn over. Cool completely. 

Place green layer on a large piece of plastic wrap. Spread evenly with raspberry jam. Top with uncolored layer and spread with apricot jam. Top with pink layer. Bring plastic wrap over layers. Slide onto a baking sheet and set a cutting board or heavy, flat pan on top to compress layers. Refrigerate overnight. 

The next day, melt chocolate in a double boiler. Spread over top layer; allow to harden. With a sharp knife, trim edges. Cut into 1/2-in. strips across the width; then cut each strip into 4-5 pieces. Store in airtight containers. 

Yield: about 8 dozen.

Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Have you voted in the photo contest?

Four of our trip pictures have been entered in a photo contest run by the good folks at easycar.com. Oh happy day - all four photos are currently in the top 10 out of 370 photos. You can vote for each by clicking here, (remember 10 is a good vote! *smile*)  here, here, and here.

Yes, you CAN vote for all four photos.

You can only vote once from any given IP address - this means you can vote once for EACH pic from both at home and at work! If you have two computers networked at home, you can only vote on one of them, however. If you have a Blackberry though, that is a third vote. If you send these links to friends, relatives, or people who bug you with unwanted e-mails - just think of the of votes! It boggles the mind.

Heck, do what I do - vote at every hotel, conference centre, and friend's house in which you find a PC attached to the internet. Don't be shy at all. :-)

---

Wow - what a day!

Once I receovered, it was back to the baking. Note to self - don't be so foolish as to donate 16 dozen cookies to the silent auction at work. Double ARGH!

I like this recipe because it makes a soft oatmeal cookie - my favourite. You might be wondering about oatmeal cookies for Christmas but the tart dried cranberries give these oatmeal cookies a festive touch and balance decadent chunks of white chocolate. I particularly like the hint of cinnamon in these treats.

Enjoy!

Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl using an electric mixer combine the sugar, brown sugar and butter; mix well to cream together.

Add in egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Add the cinnamon, baking soda, salt and flour and mix well.

Fold in the oatmeal, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips- making sure that all ingredients are uniformly distributed.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place 3 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes, just until the edges are lightly golden.

Remove from oven and let cool for 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer cookies to cooling rack.

Whipped Shortbread

Have you voted in the photo contest?

Four of our trip pictures have been entered in a photo contest run by the good folks at easycar.com. Oh happy day - all four photos are currently in the top 10 out of 370 photos. You can vote for each by clicking here, (remember 10 is a good vote! *smile*)  here, here, and here.

Yes, you CAN vote for all four photos.

You can only vote once from any given IP address - this means you can vote once for EACH pic from both at home and at work! If you have two computers networked at home, you can only vote on one of them, however. If you have a Blackberry though, that is a third vote. If you send these links to friends, relatives, or people who bug you with unwanted e-mails - just think of the of votes! It boggles the mind.

Heck, do what I do - vote at every hotel, conference centre, and friend's house in which you find a PC attached to the internet. Don't be shy at all. :-)

---

The Christmas baking is in full swing. So far I've managed to finish 14 of the cookies and squares on my list. I've got 10 different types of cookie dough in the freezer, all shaped into logs and ready to slice and bake. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

This recipe is one of my favourites - the flavour is excellent, but more than that - it is easy! Imagine just dumping some ingredients into the Kitchen Aid mixer, beating the heck out of them, dropping the dough onto cookie sheets, placing a cut cherry on each tiny mound of dough, baking, and presto - you're done. Quick, easy, and delicious shortbread!

Enjoy!

Whipped Shortbread

1lb butter
1 cup icing sugar
3 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
15 candied cherries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cut cherries into 1/8's.

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together until until very soft. Add cornstarch and flour and beat until the dough takes on a stiff whipped cream consistency.

Drop by spoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Top each cookie with a piece of cherry.

Bake for 10 min or so until golden on the bottom, but not browned on top.

Makes 4 dozen or more

Ginger Pork Sandwich

I first made these a few months ago and they were a huge hit. In fact, there were repeated requests to grill them up again. I couldn't blog about them at the time because the picture, frankly, blew. What was a blogger to do? Make them a second time, make Paul a VERY happy lad, take a good pic, and then blog away!

Serve these sandwiches for dinner, reserving some of the pork and mayonnaise mixture for your lunch the next day. Assemble the sandwich in the morning. We discovered that it is just as delicious when the pork is cold. In fact, we doubled the recipe the second time we made this so that there were LOTS of leftovers.

Ginger Pork Sandwich

2 tbsp (25 mL) sesame oil
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground ginger
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper
1 pork tenderloin (12 oz/375 g)
1/2 cup (125 mL) light mayonnaise
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp (5 mL) rice vinegar
4 kaiser buns, halved
8 lettuce leaves
8 thin slices tomato

In shallow dish, combine oil, ginger and half each of the salt and pepper; add pork and roll to coat all over. Place on greased grill over medium-high heat; close lid and grill, turning once, until just a hint of pink remains inside, 18 minutes. Transfer to board and tent with foil; let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile, in bowl, mix mayonnaise, onions, vinegar and remaining salt and pepper; spread on cut sides of buns. Sandwich pork, lettuce and tomato in buns.

Canadian Living, June 2005

Back to School Cookies - Oatmeal Raisin

I can't believe that the students went back to school today. Where has the summer gone? I blame evil Stephen Harper! He must have had his evil hand in the disappearance of summer. Did I mention that Stephen Harper is evil? Did I? He is, you know.

I love blogging. :-)

Actually I have to blame retailers, but it is nice to blame the pinhead for anything and everything! The kids are no longer out of school when the back-to-school displays go up! Parents haven't even sorted through the contents of their kid's locker that have been dragged home in a Hefty garbage bag and dumped on the family room floor when they are cajoled to go stock up on reams of paper and Bic pens.

Have you noticed how rushed everything is these days? I'll have to dig out the Halloween decor shortly. Heck, today when we were coming home from my mother's house we saw a house in our neighbourhood with its Christmas lights on! GASP

Again, it is Stephen Harper's fault.

My life has always revolved around the school year calendar - my mom was a teacher, than I was a student, and then a teacher. For our family, back-to-school always had significant connotations. Of course, until I started teaching it just meant the end of freedom. Actually, I guess as a teacher it was sort of the same as well.

It has been 10 years since I was last in a classroom, I am still active in education but not an active classroom teacher, and last night was the FIRST night I had a great night's sleep prior to the first day of school. Normally I would always wake up, frozen in fear, in the middle of a bad dream. Usually the dream involved 35 students from hell (all of whom looked like me, of course), running uncontrolled about the classroom, with me a huddled lump somewhere on the floor.

Another back to school tradition that I haven't shaken is that I bake cookies. We don't have kids but as soon as school starts Paul gets fresh cookies in his lunch. No more Keebler Pecan Sandies (which he LOVES BTW).

This week I made Oatmeal cookies - one of my favourites. I used an old recipe from Gourmet magazine. I was a bit skeptical - it only has 3/4 of a cup of flour - but I was sure that they would never had included it in their huge anniversary cookbook if it was a bust. I was right. This is my new favourite oatmeal cookie recipe - they were soft and chewy (I detest crunchy cookies) with a wonderful hint of cinnamon. I made the cookies smaller than was called for so I was able to get 40 cookies out of the recipe.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease baking sheets. Stir together oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined well. Add oat mixture and beat until just combined. Add the raisins to the mixture and stir until well distributed.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and flatten mounds slightly with moistened fingers. Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 12 minutes total. Transfer to racks to cool.