Sandwich Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

It's been a baking week. See, I found myself in the magazine section at Barnes & Noble last Friday, flipping through every seasonal periodical they had, about to buy one or two, when I remembered the two-foot stack of cooking magazines I had at home in the cupboard.

Two feet. That's not an exaggeration.

I might've made a handful of recipes out of the entire stack.

So I put the magazines back and decided it was time to go through what I already owned. I took the magazine off the top, opened to the first recipe I thought we'd actually eat, and made my grocery list.

I've done two recipes this week. At this rate, I won't need to buy another magazine until 2014.

The first recipe was a sandwich cookie with buttercream frosting. It consisted of vanilla, chocolate and spice cookies, with five different flavors of buttercream - vanilla, chocolate, coffee, orange, and almond. They turned out pretty damn good. Favorite combination? Spice with orange cream. Yum.

VANILLA ROUNDS

½ cup butter, softened

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

2 eggs

1½ tsp vanilla

2¾ cups flour

1. In a large bowl, combine butter and cream cheese at medium speed for 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined.
3. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
4. Beat in flour.
5. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 375F.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough to an 1/8-inch thickness.
8. Use 1½ - 2” cookie cutter to cut out dough.
9. Place on parchment paper on cookie sheet.
10. Bake for 6-7 minutes.
11. Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool.

SPICY GINGER ROUNDS

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup shortening

¾ cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

3 cups flour

1 egg white, beaten

1. In a large bowl, combine butter and shortening at medium speed for 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined.
3. Beat in egg and molasses.
4. Beat in flour.
5. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 375F.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough to an 1/8-inch thickness.
8. Use 1½ - 2” cookie cutter to cut out dough.
9. Place on parchment paper on cookie sheet.
10. Brush with egg white.
11. Bake for 6-7 minutes.

12. Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool.

CHOCOLATE ROUNDS

½ cup butter, softened

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

2 eggs

1½ tsp vanilla

2½ cups flour

¼ cup cocoa

1. In a large bowl, combine butter and cream cheese at medium speed for 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar. Beat until combined.
3. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
4. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in separate bowl. Slowly beat into butter mixture.
5. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 375F.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough to an 1/8-inch thickness.
8. Use 1½ - 2” cookie cutter to cut out dough.
9. Place on parchment paper on cookie sheet.
10. Bake for 6-7 minutes.
11. Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool.

We had a lot of cookies at this stage. The nice thing is, you can freeze these before you fill them, to keep on hand to fill later. That's where most of these are now. My kids can help themselves over the next few weeks.

But the buttercream is what makes these really yummy. It's just a matter of finding the right combination. 

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

½ cup softened butter

1¼ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk

1. Beat butter until fluffy.
2. Add sugar, vanilla, and milk until spreadable consistency.

COFFEE BUTTERCREAM

½ cup softened butter

1 ¼ cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp brewed coffee

1. Beat butter until fluffy.
2. Add sugar and coffee until spreadable consistency.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM

½ cup softened butter

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk

1. Beat butter until fluffy.
2. Add sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and milk until spreadable consistency.

ALMOND BUTTERCREAM

½ cup softened butter

1¼ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp almond extract

1 tbsp milk

1. Beat butter until fluffy.
2. Add sugar, almond extract, and milk until spreadable consistency.

ORANGE BUTTERCREAM

½ cup softened butter

1¼ cup powdered sugar

Finely grated zest of one orange

1 tbsp orange juice

1. Beat butter until fluffy.
2. Add sugar, zest, and juice until spreadable consistency.

New holiday ideas

I'm starting to gather together new ideas for the holidays, both Thanksgiving and Christmas. All right, maybe this is something I should've started sooner, but considering how stressful this year has been, I figure I've got some leeway.

It was sparked by a post I saw on my Facebook feed for a new kind of caramel apple. See?

I am totally in love with this idea. They just hollow out the apple, pour melted caramel in, then slice them up when they're cooled. Yum!

The next thing that made me smile was this simple ornament:

It's a melted snowman! Isn't that adorable? Instructions for how to do it are here, but you know, I highly recommend taking a look around her blog. It's got some absolutely wonderful crafting ideas.

Cooking like the Pioneer Woman

I'm not sure who pays attention to my blogroll there at the side, but on that list, you'll find one of my favorite home and foodie bloggers, The Pioneer Woman. Haven't heard of her? Where have you been? This is a romance novel come to life, one she's written herself, even.

However, I mention her today because I got another of her books this week. Her second cookbook. This particular cookbook:

I already own the first, but as soon as this came out, I went straight to Barnes & Noble and got it.

Why? Not because it's healthy diet food, that's for sure. The Pioneer Woman feeds growing kids and ranchers, and is married to a man for whom most vegetables are too weird to eat. She cooks hearty, homestyle food most of the time, with the occasional urban dish thrown in to satisfy her roots.

But I got this one for two reasons. First, some of the recipes in the first book are now family favorites. I made her olive bread at Christmas and just about had an orgasm from how good it was. My kids are always whining for me to make something from it, and I have to put them off a good part of the time because eating that way when you're not a rancher would have you breaking your scales before too long. But they're easy to cook and easy to follow, with gorgeous pictures to help along the way. I have to indulge every once in a while

I love her cookbooks for how homey they are, too. They are chock full of photos of her life, her kids, her husband, her animals. This is a woman who has laid herself bare for her readers. If you follow her blog, you will soon know this family as well as you know your own.

So buying her cookbook? Is a little like coming home.

Foodie Friday - Easy Peasy Chocolate Caramel Crispy Treats

I'm going to try out a new feature here, mostly because I do this anyway with friends so it wouldn't be much extra work at all to share on my writing blog, too.

Even though this has absolutely nothing to do with writing whatsoever.

But I love to cook, and bake, and, well, eat what I cook and bake, which isn't always a great thing. I share recipes with friends all the time, especially as my kids' tastes have evolved, or as I meet new people who have different traditions than I do, or as life just goes on.

To start things off, I'm posting an easy peasy treat that my kids adore. The grown-up kids love it, too, because it's just not good for you which means it's delicious, right, lol? I don't have pictures this week, but starting next week, I'll do those so you have an idea.

I suppose that means I should learn how to use our camera instead of relying on my camera phone. That's probably easier said that done.

These are a simple treat I make for the kids when they have guests, or for special occasions, or at Christmas time. They're always devoured.


CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CRISPY TREATS

INGREDIENTS
4 2.05 oz bars of Milky Way
3/4 cup butter, divided
3 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Melt candy and 1/2 cup of butter, stirring occasionally until smooth.
2. Stir in cereal until well blended.
3. Press into a greased 11x7" pan.
4. Melt chocolate chips and remaining 1/4 cup butter, stirring until smooth.
5. Spread over the top of bars.
6. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.