More cookies in the future

I am on the eve of something new, something exciting, something challenging. I talked the talk, now I must walk the walk. I got the interview then the job. It is a challenge I know I will succeed, for life is all about setting ourselves up for success. Setting up for successes takes preparation, work and a good dose of faith then follow through. Follow through. For the love of all things beautiful, make a habit of following through. People notice. Follow through is sexier than a mini skirt or that half buttoned blouse, people notice if you are late and lazy disguised in tight clothing. I digress. Back to the job that I just might have.

A wise friend turned my husband once told me never to settle. I strive never to settle, I can always push harder, further and higher. I have been hunting hunting and hunting for a job for months upon months with rarely a spark to follow. Recently, what seemed to be the golden ticket, the saving grace fell into my lap and just as fast past through my grip. Disappointment. I reeled, waxed, waned and like a good girl shed my fair share of tears. I wondered and questioned. Within the same week of hearing the humbling, I am offering my condolences speech and the glaring fact that there are always more qualified, I was offered an interview in very different career path. A job in which my heart lies firmly in the path. I smiled with confidence as I entered the restaurant, as I gazed at the walls and peered at the employees. I can do this, I will do this, I want to do this. As of now, this is it.

As I take a dream, passion, energy and turn it into reality, I know that I am headed in the right direction. This direction may not be the paycheck of my dreams or provide income to support a family but there are other benefits (no not the health ones) and they just might be of an equal importance. I am ever grateful for my supportive husband and the encouragement that he offers me almost every step of the way.

Here is to following a passion, new challenges, new people, lots more sugar and flour and a new beginning. And cookies, always more cookies.

Orange Ricotta Cookies

Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

2-½ cups ap flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
15 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons orange Juice
Large orange, zested

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and the sugar, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until each one is incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, juice, and zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients. Do not over mix.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Once pulled from the oven, let the cool for a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack.
These are best the day they are made.

 

The Cocktail Collection

Introducing Cocktail Cookies.

You had better hurry over to my ETSY shop and check out my newest line of cookies. I know you will not be disappointed because I have paired two of my things together, rich little cookies with wine, beer and cocktails.

If you live in Western Washington you still have plenty of time to have freshly baked cookies shipped right to your house in time for Valentine's Day. If you live in Bellingham, I can deliver. Everyone else: Be sweet and eat cookies - regardless of the day.

A big thank you for all the people that have purchased cookies and lots of them.  I am busy and LOVE it!

 I hope ya'll have a good weekend!

Hearts in the right place

 Because Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

Because I just can't get enough of pretty little cookies.

Because we all have some very special people in our lives that always appreciate something handmade.

I have more cookies for you!

Give Love & Cookies

As some of you know already I had to leave the bakery. In the end, it is the smartest choice.

Although I can't stop making cookies! COOKIES! More cookies! I love making cookies for people. It is really all I want to do, so here I am, making cookies for YOU.

Over the next week I will be rolling out my personal line of cookies. I couldn't be more excited and absolutely thrilled to be able to share them with you. There are some real gems coming out of this kitchen.

This is the first set, they are coming from my heart. I was smiling the entire time I cut, baked, cooled and frosted these wee little bite size hearts. They are just in time for Valentine's Day. The cookie is a tender sugar cookie, baked to perfection then frosted with royal icing. A match made in heaven. They come in sweet vanilla, lemon or cinnamon.  

I also can make them gluten free just for you.

These are small Valentine cookies beautifully handcrafted with the best natural ingredients available. Baked in small batches with care going into every detail from pure cane sugar to tasteful packaging.

The cookies will be made in shades of purple, pink and red for Valentine's day. Available with or without sprinkles.

Each cookie measures 1.25" in size.

You will receive 3 dozen, freshly baked and crafted cookies, wrapped in clear cello bags, tied with satin ribbon and a gift tag.  Each package costs $12 and I can ship them to you for just a little more.

You can either CONTACT ME via email or simply purchase through my ETSY shop.

Sables

People ask me what my favorite thing is to bake, I always answer beaming with confidence. Cookies.

Shortbread to chocolate chip to carrot cake sandwiches. I love cookies. Cookies without flour. Cookies. Cookies. Cookies. Letting the dough rest, baking until fragrant, developing unique flavors and textures all go into the beauty of baking cookies.

If you ask what to try from the pastry case I will hand you a cookie. Invite me to a dinner party and I will bring a plate of cookies to munch on for dessert. I took cookies to my favorite Mexican restaurant. Recently I had some work done on my teeth, the dentist asked for cookies in exchange.

The key to enjoy baking is to be efficient about the process. I have a few master recipes for cookies that I enjoy and know that work for me, I take these base recipes and slightly tweak it depending on what I have on hand. As an example, recently I made a double batch of sable dough and added a few sprigs of finely chopped rosemary to half the batch and rolled the other half in crushed Texan pecans.

Sables

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's, Baking

MAKES ABOUT 50 COOKIES

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted before measuring
1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt
2 large egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour.

For the decoration (optional):
1 egg yolk
Crystal or dazzle sugar.

1. Working in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until it is smooth and very creamy. Add the sugars and salt and continue to beat until smooth and velvety, not fluffy and airy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in 2 egg yolks, again beating until well blended.

2. Turn off the mixer, pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the mixer and pulse the mixer about 5 times at low speed for 1 or 2 seconds each time. Take a peek; if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of more times; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, stir for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough and the dough looks uniformly moist. If you still have some flour on the bottom of the bowl, stop mixing and use a rubber spatula to work the rest of it into the dough. (The dough will not come together in a ball -- and it shouldn't. You want to work the dough as little as possible. What you're aiming for is a soft, moist, clumpy dough. When pinched, it should feel a little like Play-Doh.)

3. Scrape the dough onto a work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a smooth log about 9 inches long (it's easiest to work on a piece of plastic wrap and use the plastic to help form the log). Wrap the logs well and chill them for at least 2 hours. The dough may be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

4. When ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and keep it at the ready.

5. To decorate the edges of the sables, whisk the egg yolk until smooth. Place one log of chilled dough on a piece of waxed paper and brush it with yolk (the glue), and then sprinkle the entire surface of the log with sugar. Trim the ends of the roll if they are ragged and slice the log into 1/3-inch-thick cookies.

6. Place the rounds on the baking sheet, leaving an inch of space between each cookie, and bake for 17 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the halfway point. When properly baked, the cookies will be light brown on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges and pale on top. Let the cookies rest 1 or 2 minutes before carefully lifting them onto a cooling rack with a wide metal spatula. Repeat with the remaining log of dough. (Make sure the sheet is cool before baking each batch.)

Variations:

Lemon Sables Before mixing the butter and sugar together, pour the sugar in a bowl with the grated zest of 1 to 1 1/2 lemons. Work the zest and sugar together with your fingertips until the mixture is moist and aromatic, then cream it with the butter in the mixer.

Parmesan Sables Replace sugars with 3/4 cup very finely grated Parmesan added to the beaten butter. A few grains of fleur de sel may be gently pressed into the top of each sable before the baking sheet is slipped into the oven.

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

So I might have forgot baking soda once. Turns out leavening is kind of important to the consistency of baked goods especially when you want an airy moist cake.

I might have asked the chef how to frost a cake. For real.

She might have taught me some very valuable tricks of the trade. Even better.

Never be afraid to ask questions.

I might have made the same recipe twice in one day and both times it turned out awful.

Never label a recipe fool proof. Never.

I made cupcakes two days in a row, both times they overflowed and looked laughable.

Never give up.

I have to laugh at myself. I love it, I learn, I move on. 

I feel really stoked that I can make a few recipes from memory.

I smile.

My tart shells often leak. Tarts are gorgeous but not when they leak.

I love the word tartlette.

Never forget the salt. Always use real butter. Cream is nice. Buttermilk is awesome.

Each weekday morning I put my crazy curly hair in a high bun, run some mascara through my eyelashes at an unruly early hour and tip toe out of the house trying my hardest not to wake J.  Most days are smooth, I soak up all that I can, committing it to memory and making notes in an ever growing baker's binder. Creativity and craftiness.  I pull things out of the oven beaming with excitement, proud. I dance. There is laughter and smiles.

I pulled these cookies out of the oven, arranged them nicely and watched as they all were given good homes in warm bellies.

 Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

Get creative and spin these tangy cookies with zest of oranges or limes. Try chocolate. How about cinnamon or cardamom. Please do tell me what you try!

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

zest of 1 lemon

1 cup sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees.

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

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment add butter cream cheese, lemon zest and sugar. Cream on medium speed until slightly more pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Stop the mixer, add the flour.  Mix on low speed until dough comes together. 

On parchment lined cookie sheets place walnut sized balls of dough 2 inches apart.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. Don't over bake, the edges should be slightly golden.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

I really thought I knew something about baking three weeks ago.

I can make some pretty cookies, bread is usually edible and luckily I am not afraid of the mixer or a little elbow grease and garlic. I can read until I go cross eyes about recipes and techniques.

Yeah, well I knew as much as a grain of salt in a five gallon bucket about turning out delightful pastry five days a week. I am getting educated. Seriously. I am in good caring hands, I am under a woman who wants to see me succeed. I want her to succeed in her role as lead chef. She is a pretty righteous woman and I am pretty damn lucky to have such a great opportunity.

I have you to thank and I should thank you from deep down. Thank you for your support and reminding me how pretty you think my photos are, for those of you who have tried my recipes and those of you have been around from day one or who recently stumbled by. Thank you all. I really wouldn't be here now without this supportive community and healthy creative outlet.

As for the baking, I am getting by with what I know then I come home and nerd out in a world of endless possibilities that is just at my finger tips, then wake when people are rolling home from last call and try again. I taste and I take in. I ask questions. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH. I love it. I am a baker, a baker in training.

Besides bakers hours I am in love with my job. I hang up my chef coat most days yearning to make more, I don't want to stop. Bake bake bake. Frost. Glaze. Cut. Crumble. Roll. I come home and jump on the Internet in search of inspiration and always find it, I have a stack of cookbooks next to my side of the bed. I ride my bike but think about what to bake. Ideas are flowing and I have a binder full of blank paper to fill in the spaces. I have J try a lot and he gives great feedback, he is my ace in the hole and enjoys a treat that is just right, never too sweet.

These cookies were made with J in mind. Not too sweet, a close cousin to his favorite, a good morning glory muffin that meets a carrot cake to form a sandwich cookie.

Without raisins as per J.

I love this shit.

I can say deep in my heart that I made the right decision, there is nothing else I can imagine doing that would make me happier. Well if I could have my cake and eat it too which turns out getting a decent amount of sleep with this schedule would be icing on the cake and make like three times the amount of money. 

What ever.

I can't get enough of a few great books including: Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe and the numerous recipes tucked in between the hardback or the The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant cookbook that is chocked full of techniques and insight. I am lusting after the Bourke Street Bakery book and I will stop there for there are only so many hours in the day.

The truth is that some day - some how - some form you will see my name in the list of inspirational cookbooks based off of some successful bakery adventure. Some day. Hundreds of pounds of butter and millions of pounds of flour later I might be there. Don't tell but I already have a name picked out.

Until you see my name in print I will try and remember to tote my camera to work and document some of the beauties I have been turning out. Do you have any interest? Would you rather see what comes out of our kitchen here at home?  I am open to any and all feedback.

So much love and kindness.

And cookies....

Always cookies.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
 Adapted from Epicourious

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup coarsely grated carrots
• 1 scant cup walnuts (3 ounces), chopped
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.

Whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey until smooth.

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.

Share with your favorite people, our happen to be the fine folks of Fanatik Bike Shop here in Bellingham.

The art of caramel and world peace cookies

I bake for a living.

Or as J. jokes, brings home the dough.

Really? Pinch me.

Or at least I have hacked through a week of early mornings and just barely knowing enough about baking cookies to survive a week filling a pastry case meant for human consumption and not been told to take a hike instead. Seriously. I bake at least fifty little nibbles by six in the morning, people buy them. I only imagine that people eat the damn things or at least feed it to their dog or please just just let me know you compost for Pete's sake. Honestly, I think that I would eat anything that comes out of the oven so the shop is in pretty good shape because I am rather pickey.

Like with anything there are flops. Failures. Opportunities to learn.

The last two days I have been trying to make caramel sauce, a really large vat of camel sauce. It is not working. Just as the "boss lady" gently instructed me, I mixed two cups of brown sugar, two cups of granulated sugar, one cup of water and a few tablespoons of white vinegar in a pot with very clean hands. The mixture went on medium high heat, I watched for sugar crystallization around the edge of the bubbling sugar, brushed it down with a clean brush dipped in fresh water, carefully avoiding touching the liquid hot magma doing its canalization business with the bristles. I let it go. Heating. Bubbling. Smelling wonderfully. I prepped the the three cups of heavy cream and a few ounces of dark rum in another pot, letting it come to a full boil. Timing is key. When the sugar is at the appropriate temperature which is apparently gauged by smell, color, the ability to blow perfect bubbles with the caramel liquid through a slotted spoon and the final test of dropping a spoon full in a glass of water to make sure it forms a round ball by the time it reaches the bottom, the sugar has caramelized and can be removed from the heat, the boiling cream can be carefully added in small amounts while the other hand whisks.  Then it cools. Then you pour it over everything you see. Simple enough right?


Still learning!

Next week I promise I will understand caramel sauce and why it separates if done wrong, like this morning.

Did I mention that there is so much information out there. Like here and here. 

But I did make a cheese cake with marscapone, fromage blanc and cream cheese which is studded with orange zest and baked in a cinnamon graham cracker crust served with raspberry sauce to be served all weekend. BAM!

Dabbling with caramel sauce, learning to determine when cheese cakes are done without the aide of a thermometer, understanding the jiggle of creme brulee can be a wee bit intimidating for me at times. I second guess everything I do, every action, scrutinize every flavor. Then I turn to my favorite recipes, ones that work for me, things I like to nibble and the things that I love to share with friends. I made this cookie recipe, world peace cookies within the first few days in the kitchen, needing a boost of confidence.

Everyone loved them, of course.

World Peace/Korova Cookies
Paris Sweets, Dorie Greenspan
Smitten Kitchen
Makes about 36 cookies

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (30 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons or 150 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (120 grams) (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces (150 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour mixture, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about one inch between them.
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.


Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months. They can also be frozen in log form for months, and can be sliced and baked directly from the freezer, adding a couple minutes to the baking time.

Granola Cookies

I have granola in the oven right now, my favorite granola.  

There is a cold snap here in the desert, it is only 75 degrees and will creep to 90 by the evening. The air condition is off, the windows are perched open and I am baking, testing recipes and running the oven while the house is still cool. My thoughts push me outside, I should be out enjoying the cooler temperatures but the truth is I have been as far away from my kitchen as possible for much too long.  

Today, I want to be in the kitchen, baking through the morning. When I woke up today, I was finally ready to warm the oven, open a fresh bag of flour to make poppy seed rolls and make a large batch of granola to take on our trip next week. 

It feels natural, on a good day, to be in the kitchen. It is usually quiet, just me, the animals and my thoughts. Moving in the kitchen when I am baking seems second nature, I know exactly what I need, what goes next, what I want to happen and I learn from my mistakes.  Ask me to make dinner and the exact opposite thing happens. I am a baker. Today I was reminded that as much as I enjoy spending time outdoors, I need time indoors, to myself, using my hands and producing. 

Granola Cookies
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Makes about 40 cookies

3 cups granola (no fruit)
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup salted peanuts
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 375° F and prepare 2 baking sheets with liners.

Combine the granola, raisins, peanuts, almonds, coconut, and wheat germ in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

In a stand mixer cream the butter for 2 minutes at a medium speed. Add the brown sugar, continue to cream for 3 minutes. Add the salt and the egg until mixed. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour and once it is just mixed, add the granola mixture. Stop the mixer once all the granola, nuts, and fruit are just combined. Do not over beat this batter. Use a spatula to incorporate any remaining dry ingredients.

Take a heaping tablespoon of the dough and gently pack. Place each cookie about 1 1/2 inch from each other though these won't spread a lot. Flatten them down a tiny bit using your fingertips.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. About halfway through, rotate the pans 180° and switch the pans on the racks. The cookies are done when they are a golden brown but not hard. Remove from the oven, let cool in the pan for a minute or two, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.