Sugar Cookies for someone special

This was my first attempt at sugar cookies, and first attempt at decorating them too..and tasting them too. :-) I have learned how common they are in other parts of world, now that I have started baking so frequently. This was the second kind of cookie that I parceled to my friend, chosen again due to its crispiness and ability to last longer. The recipe was again from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my home to yours" and this time I faced more troubles than with Chocolate almond biscotti. But this time the fault was mine. I had halved the recipe and assumed that the small size eggs will be half of the "large sized eggs". The dough became unmanageable because of that. But thankfully it didn't impact the taste or texture. The only thing I had to do was to refrigerate for more than 2 hours, so that i could work with the dough.

I decorated the cookies with home-colored  sugar, which gives it a nice crunch. For next time, I am thinking of adding either spices or citrus zest to give them some additional flavour.

Here is the original recipe from the book.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Colored sugar/cinnamon sugar [optional]

  Preparation

1. Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together.
2. Working with  mixer, beat the butter at medium speed for a minute or so, until smooth. Beat in the sugar and continue to beat for about 2 minutes, until the mixture is light and pale. Add the egg and yolk and beat for another minute or two; beat in the vanilla. 
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and steadily add the flour mixture, mixing only until it has been incorporated — because this dough is best when worked least, you might want to stop the mixer before all the flour is thoroughly blended into the dough and finish the job with a rubber spatula. When mixed, the dough will be soft, creamy and malleable.
4. Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a disk and wrap in plastic.Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. 
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
6. Working with one packet of dough at a time, roll out the dough between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
7. Cut the cookies with a cookie cutter and place them on the baking sheet 1 and 1/2 inch apart. If you feel butter s melting, chill it for some time.
8. Sprinkle colored sugar just before you place the cookies in oven.
9. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the sheet at the midpoint. The cookies should feel firm, but they should not color much, if at all.
10. Let them rest for 1 minute before carefully lifting them onto a rack to cool to room temperature.
11. Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Storing: The cookies will keep at room temperature in a tin for up to 1 week. Wrapped well, they can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Biscotti are twice baked cakes, which are crispy and crunchy and can last for a longer time as they become dry due to baking it twice. I was exactly looking for something like this ,which could last longer, as for the first time I was parceling them to another city, to a friend.
It was about time i made something from the Dorie Greenspan's book which I had gifted to myself for my birthday few month's back :) For any baking , I usually go to the internet for reference. It makes me easier to follow a recipe which has review comments and suggestions incase someone faces a problem. This time , I didn't. Later on ,while slicing the biscotti after first bake , I faced an issue as it was crumbling. I think I almost had 1/3rd of them broken. I searched if others faced the same issue with the recipe and someone did face the same. That apart, these are delicious. My husband who is not so much a sweets person, is munching on the broken ones, while the good ones were packed and sent :)

Ingredients
[about 40 cookies]
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp instant coffee or instant espresso powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped  roasted almonds 

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped ( or 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips)
Sugar, for dusting

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/176 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, coffee powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until pale.
4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla; beat for another 2 minutes.
5. Decrease the speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until a dough forms. 
6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the chopped nuts and chocolate chunks/chips.
7. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead a few times just to incorporate any dry ingredients that didn't get mixed in before. 
8. Divide into two portions ,shape each portion into a 12 x 2 inch log and 1/2 to 1 inch high. 
9. Place them on baking sheet,sprinkle the tops with a little sugar.
10. Bake for 25 minutes till they are slightly firm.Logs will spread and crack which is fine.
11. Remove the sheet from the oven and let it cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Then, with a very sharp, serrated knife, slice the logs into about 3/4 - 1 inch slices and leave the slices standing up on the baking sheet 
12. Return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes of baking.
13. Transfer biscotti to a rack to cool.

Linking it to Almond Event at Anu's healthy kitchen and cookeatdelicious

Hazelnut Nutella Thumbprint Cookies

I am guilty of lying low in the blogword these days, not posting anything, not visiting any of the fellow bloggers blogs that frequently.Mumbai  monsoon continues. It has been raining everyday, leaving a sense of melancholy on weekdays and to add to that office hours have been hectic, leaving me uninspired to cook anything special. The only good thing is when we go out on weekends, to explore the beauty that monsoon brings.

Here are some of the photos  from our recent trip to Matheran, a beautiful hill station near mumbai, where no vehicles are allowed. There are no concrete or tar roads. You have to go from a place either on foot or horses. The photos are taken by my husband, who is an amateur photographer.  

Matheran Photos

Photos of Mumbai's Marine Drive in Monsoon 

Enjoy the photos of greenery and rains :))

My sister was here for a couple of days. She had made of list of few things for me to bake. Unfortunately, due to lack of time I  couldn't  make anything. To make up for that I baked some of these thumbprint cookies that she could take home.  The baking time that the original recipe had did not work for me , maybe because I use a microwave convection oven. It was too crumbly and was breaking even if I tried to lift them. I increased the baking time considerably to get a harder texture. The cookies came out delicious and exactly of the same texture I wanted.  

The recipe is from BakersDaughter .OMG, You can imagine how much office work is on my mind. I was going to write ," Please find the recipe attached" . :-D

Ingredients

 [25-30 cookies]
12 tbsp butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup Nutella

1 cup hazelnuts toasted

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350F/180C.  Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.  
2. Finely chop the hazelnuts.  Set aside. 
3. Using a hand or stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat for a few minutes until smooth. 
4. Add the flour,vanilla extract and mix until combined.   
5. Form the dough into tablespoon sized balls.  Roll each ball into the chopped nuts and place on the baking trays 1 inch apart.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and press a round teaspoon into the center into each cookie to make an indentation. If you can bear a bit of heat, you can use your thumb ,like I did :)
7.  Using a pastry bag,fill in nutella in the indentation. The original recipe had this step once the cookies were completely baked. But , I wanted to harden Nutella a bit  as I was packing them, so I did this step before.The first photo above is after this step.
8. Place back the cookies in the oven for another 20-25 minutes  till they are slightly brown [ The original recipe had 7-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned.  ]
9. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool.

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

I always crib that since I do most of my cooking/baking at night, after my office hours, I can't click their photographs in natural light. That's why I love baking cookies. We don't have to click them as soon as they are made. And I can pester my husband to click some photos before he leaves for the office next morning.   Photography is something I don't enjoy yet. I hope ,I start it soon, because it is so necessary for a food blog.

These cookies  and the Crunchy Sesame Seeds cookies were made for my nephew and niece who are visiting my mom in Delhi for their summer vacation. They and the family loved it so much that in two days all the cookie jars are empty. This one was yet again a crumbly cookie. I didn't like them as much as my family did. Seems, I have to take a break from crumbly cookies to enjoy them again.

Here is the recipe from Sweetest Kitchen
Ingredients
30 Cookies
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup Crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Nutella

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/ 175C
2. Combine butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix them together very well.
3. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Drizzle Nutella on top of the dough then swirl it through the dough with a knife. 
4. Chill the dough for 15 minutes. 
5. Roll into balls by hand. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 
6. Press down the balls with a fork to create a crisscross pattern.
7. Bake until edges are very lightly browned about 10 -12 minutes.

Linking It to Priya's and Aipi's Bookmarked event.

Crunchy Sesame Seeds Cookies

These cookies are super awesome. If you love sesame seeds, then this is a must try.  I have had enough of making chewy and crumbly cookie. This time I specifically searched for crunchy cookies recipes and among many recipes I was immediately attracted to these. Sesame seeds sweets in various forms is very common in India. So,I knew I was going to like this anyway. I was so happy that it turned out so good. This recipe is definitely a keeper, something you can make and send to your friends and family.  

Here is the recipe from SimplyRecipes

 Ingredients

1 cup sesame seeds, toasted

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation

1.     Preheat oven to 325 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2.    Toast the sesame seeds in a heavy skillet over medium heat until they are almost golden brown. Don’t over brown them because that would give it a bitter taste.  I kept tasting them as soon as they started browning to check for bitterness.

3.    Beat the brown sugar and butter together in a bowl for several minutes until fluffy. Beat in the egg.

4.    Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder, then add these dry ingredients to the butter, sugar, egg mixture, mix well. Stir in the toasted sesame seeds, vanilla extract, and lemon juice.

5.    (Optional): Chill the dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. This makes it easier to drop the cookies on the sheets. I did both with and without chilling. Felt it spread more without chilling.

6.    Drop half tablespoon of dough onto prepared cookie sheets. Leave 2 inches space between each drop as these cookies spread a lot.

7.    Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown. Let it cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a rack to continue cooling.

8.    Makes around 30 cookies.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

What makes this cookie special is the generous amount of  chocolate chunks. Chocolate chips cookies always leave me wanting for more chocolate. Replace it with chocolate chunks and it  perfectly satisfies all my chocolate cravings. Though, I must say this wasn't my most favourite cookie, but it works well as a simple cookie to have with a cup of milk ,coffee or tea . My cookie standards have been set high after having baked the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie  and the Nutella Pinwheel Cookies and I  inadvertently start comparing any cookies that I make with them. So,  this one fell short to those standards, but still if you are looking for simple chocolate chunk cookies, this is quite good. And being made up of Wheat Flour, it will lessen some of your guilt too :)

Ingredients
For 12 -15 cookies
[Inspired from Scandilicious].

1 and 3/4th cups Whole wheat Flour
1/2 tsp Baking  soda
1/2 tsp salt
180 gms Butter melted
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp sugar powdered
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
170gm dark chocolate  chopped into chunks.

 Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 155C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and keep aside.
2. In a medium bowl sieve the flour, baking soda and salt together.Mix well so that baking soda is distributed well.
3. Melt butter.whisk using the electric whisk ,melted butter and the sugars until creamy.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla to the mixture. Whisk again and then add the flour. Keep beating for some time stretch those gluten strands.
5. Add the chocolate chunks and fold in. The cookie dough should feel almost dry now.Mix well to spread the chocolate chunks evenly.
6. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
7. Scoop 1 tbsp of dough on the baking sheets, spacing them further than 2 inches apart as these cookies spread upon baking.
8. Bake on the upper-middle shelf of the oven for 25-28 minutes until the cookies are golden,
9. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets.

Chocolate Macroons

When I first saw the chocolate dipped macroon on google images few days back while searching for coconut based dessert , I absolutely had to make them. It was love at first sight :-) I did a mix n match of recipes as I wanted to try an eggless version. The recipes has been adapted  from EgglessCooking and Brown eyed baker. I have followed the original recipe which Eggless Cooking intended to follow, but still faced the same issues like her. The condensed milk and coconut mixture had turned runny even though it wasn't runny earlier and  I hadn't even added any milk. So, to avoid that I  am mentioning a lesser amount of condensed milk in the recipe here. Also, if you have parchment paper, use that. I used wax paper and faced a bit of trouble as it got stuck to the macroons.

Ingredients 

For 24 Macroons

3/4 cup Sweetened Condensed milk  [ I had used 1 cup]

1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

2 and 1/2 cup Sweetened Shredded Coconut [ I had used unsweetened, and the macroons were sweet enough]

8 oz Dark Chocolate for dipping

Preparation

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 325F.
2. In a large bowl, combine sweetened milk and all purpose flour, whisking until blended.
3. Stir in coconut and mix well.
4. Drop the 1 tablespoon dough about 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet. Using your fingertips make it like a haystack.
5. Bake the macroons for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. I kept checking once 15 mins were over to see that coconuts are not burnt. The macroons should be crispy/crunchy and yet not burnt. It took me more than 20 minutes to achieve the required crispiness.
6. Cool the macroons  on the baking sheets for 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula remove them to a wire rack.
7. Let the macroons cool for 30 minutes at room temperature.
8. Melt dark chocolate and stir it smooth.
9. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper.
10. Holding the macroons by tip, dip the bottom in the chocolate  and place them on the baking sheet. refrigerate for 15 minutes for chocolate to set.

Enjoy the crispy crunchy macroons  :)

Chocolate Cranberry Coffee Oatmeal Cookies

This cookie has everything, name it and it is there. Chocolate chips, pecans/walnuts,cranberries,coffee.
Oats has been lying in the pantry for "I don't know how long". I have never tried making anything else from it other than eating with milk for breakfast. But, now the floodgates are opened and suddenly I have come across so many oats recipes that my pantry is soon going to be oats-free.
This is the last recipe that I had finalized to take to my family. I also baked my favorite among all cookies that I have baked till now, Chocolate Peanut Butter Filled Cookies again. 


Ingredients
(For 24 Cookies.Adapted from Poppytalk)

1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cups whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 cups  rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup pecans/walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 tbs coffee powder


Preparation

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
• In a bowl, combine the 2 flours, oats, baking soda, and salt together.
• In another bowl, mix together the melted butter, vanilla, egg , brown sugar and coffee powder.
• Put the dry ingredients into the wet and mix well. Add in the cranberries, pecans/walnuts and chocolate chips and beat until combined.
• Drop  a tablespoon of dough  2 inches apart on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Press down on the tops slightly with the back of a spoon 
• Bake for 12 minutes.

Banana Buttermilk Muffin-Cookies

This is second cookie/biscuit that I made this weekend. As the name suggests it is a Muffin-Cookie, the crust is like a Cookie and the inside it is soft like a muffin. It is a simple, hassle-free cookie and is less sweet.
At first bite,just after taking it out of oven I did not like both the taste and look much, but it tasted good after keeping it for some time.Final verdict- Can't make up my mind. I feel it could do with a little more of flavor, The bananas I added were not so ripe,may that was the reason for the lack of distinct flavor.

 I have adapted it from Dine and Dish ,adding some extra sugar,cinnamon and chocolate chips from my side.

Ingredients

For 30-35 small sized cookies
2 1/4 cups flour

4 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon powder

3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup over ripe banana mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400° F
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda,cinnamon powder and salt. Add softened butter and mix till crumbly
3. Slowly add buttermilk, mashed banana and vanilla and stir to moisten.
4. Add Chocolate chips and stir
5. Pat out dough on a well floured bread board until approximately 1 inch thick.
6. Using a floured biscuit cutter, cut out dough and place on a greased baking sheet.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until a nice, light golden brown.

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

Confessions of a novice baker - Until recently I didn't even know about Nutella's existence. From the time I have started baking frequently , I have read almost every baker talking about their love for Nutella. I got my Nutella jar few weeks back from Arife at Andheri, Mumbai , but kept postponing making something out of it. My sister has demanded to bring lots of cookies for her, so this was a good time to make few different varieties  Yesterday, I spent quite some time finalizing the cookies recipes. The recipe is from PurpleFoodie, an accomplished blogger from Mumbai whose blog is a storehouse of information for bakers in Mumbai. Everything I learnt when I just started baking is from her blog, from where to get the ingredients to what to make.

I wanted them in small size ,so kept the width of the rolled rectangle less. If you want many layers, increase the width.

Ingredients
For 25 small sized cookies
125g / 1 stick butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 heaped cup sifted flour
¼ cup Nutella to spread

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 175C/350F.
2. Mix butter and sugar together till creamy.
3. Mix in the egg yolk and the vanilla essence. The mixture should be light and well combined.
4. Stir in the flour to form a dough.
5. Cover the dough in a cling film and refrigerate it for 15 minutes  in deep freezer to facilitate rolling and cutting as the dough is very delicate.
6. Roll out the dough into a rectangle of ¼ inch thickness between two large cling films. Once rolled,remove the upper cling film.
7. Spread the Nutella leaving 1/4 inch on all sides .
8. Roll the dough to a log starting from longest side. Put it into deep freezer for another 5-7 minutes.
9. Cut into 1/3 inch slices using a taut sewing thread between the fingers of both  hands .This would give clean slices.
10. Lay the slices 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 12-15 minutes till slightly golden at the edges. 
11. Once done, keep them on baking sheet for few minutes before transferring them on wire rack.

Chocolate Walnut Brownie Cookies

The idea of baking Cookies has always fascinated me.
Countless books [including Mills & Boons :)] mentions the entire house filled with the sweet smell of fresh cookies in the oven.
And I have been wanting to recreate those aromas my little kitchen ever since I started baking recently.
So, here comes the recipe of  first cookie I baked  which is inspired from BakingBites Brownie cookies.

Ingredients
5oz bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour [maida]
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup Sugar [grind it if using granulated sugar]
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla essence[ use  2 tsp vanilla extract preferably]
1/2 cup roasted walnuts [broken into small pieces]
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Chocolate flakes for decoration

 Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. 
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla essence or extract and the melted chocolate.
5. Add in dry ingredients and stir just until dough comes together and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
6. Stir in  and chocolate chips.
7. Drop 1-inch balls of dough onto prepared baking sheet.
8. Put some chocolate flakes on the top.
9. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until cookies are set and are no longer wet looking.
10. Let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 and 1/2 dozen cookies.

My Personal Notes

• Color of the cookies are an indication if it is done or not. Undone chocolate cookies are of pale chocolate colour.
• The cookies loses its wetness when stored overnight.So,don't get worried if it is little moist when it comes out the oven. If it is too wet then bake for couple of minutes more.