Sugar Cookies

Ok--we didn't eat sugar cookies for dinner, but in my drive away from processed food, it means making more things myself, like sugar cookies and icing. I signed up to bring cookies for M's Halloween party at preschool and whipped up a batch of cookies. The biggest thing to remember about sugar cookies is that almost all recipes need to be refrigerated for at least 4 - 6 hours. I view sugar cookies as a 2 day event....make the dough on one day, refrigerate and then bake (and decorate) the cookies the next day.

Beat together 1 c butter at room temperature and 1 1/2 c sugar until creamy and fluffy. Add 3 eggs and mix well. Beat in 2 t vanilla (and 1 t almond extract if you want to, I never have...). Add 4 1/2 c flour, 1 t baking soda, and 1/2 t salt and mix well. Chill dough overnight.

The next day roll the dough out on a floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees oven on ungreased cookie sheets for 7 - 8 minutes for soft chewy cookies. The softness or crispness of the cookies will depend on how thin you roll the cookies and how long you bake them. If you like cookies that are thin like sand tarts, roll very thin and cook for 7 - 8 minutes. If you like soft, thick cookies, roll thickly and bake 7 minutes.

Once the cookies are cooled you can ice or decorate them however you please. To make your own icing, combine 1/3 c butter at room temperature (or if you often don't plan ahead enough to get butter at room temperature like me, you can soften it by putting it an electric mixer by itself and beating until it is creamy) and 3 c confectioner's sugar. Add 1 t vanilla and 2 T water (or milk) and combine. If the icing seems too thick or thickens as you ice, just add a little more water, no more than 1 T at a time. Ice and let the cookies set before stacking (they are stackable once the icing is dry) or storing.

Whoppie Pies

Friday is the new I'm not cooking Saturday. We are going to a potluck at the farm where we get our produce tomorrow so I knew I'd need to cook for that. So, instead, I didn't cook supper tonight. I do however have a recipe to post.

The recipe is Whoopie Pies. I know, the name doesn't make sense to most Texans and I've gotten teased a lot about the name since being here. However, where I am from in the East (Virginia-Pennsylvania), whoopie pies are a common thing that you can find at Old Order Mennonite and Amish farmer's markets in addition to your regular Martin's grocery store. I can't find them here so I've had to make my own. (In the pictures, the whoopie pies are the cake and filling looking things. The other star shaped cookies are Linzer cookies which I'll explain more about at closer to Christmas cookie time).

For years, I just made my family's whoopie pie recipe, somewhat hesistantly since it had raw eggs in the filling. I stumbled across this recipe on Epicurious last year rather by accident, tried it, and these have become our favorite whoopie pies. I use an alternate filling to the marshmallow fluff that was in the review section of the recipe. Measure 1 cup of whole milk into small saucepan. Add 5 tablespoons of sifted flour. (I use Wondra flour. No lumps) Cook on medium heat until thick. Cool. Cream together 1/2 cup (a stick) butter & 1/2 cup shortening till creamy. Add 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 cup sifted powdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated. With mixer on slow speed, add the cooled flour mixture one tablespoon at a time. Beat on medium high for 3 - 4 minutes or until mixture has a fluffy-creamy texture. The filling is ready to use.

The filling isn't as sweet (which we like) and the cake isn't quite as moist (which is ok, because they are still really moist), but I don't feel bad letting my 3 year old and 1 1/2 year old eat them. No worries about salmonella poisoning with these cookies. I also don't make them quite as big as the recipe calls for. When I make the recipe, I get about 18 - 24 finished cookies instead of just 8 (that's dropping rounded tablespoons of batter onto the pan).

I think one is calling my name now!

Weekend in Review

It was a rather busy, hectic weekend, with meals out, a babysitter, and a birthday party.  I prepared supper for the evening the kids were with the babysitter, granola to eat with the yogurt I made earlier in the week, chocolate pudding just for me Friday afternoon, because sometimes you just need good comfort food, pancakes for breakfast this morning, and then this evening's dinner of cheddar waffles (I haven't decided yet whether to serve eggs with it or a sausage gravy---need to consult the hubby).

Here are my recipes:

Granola:  Mix together 3/4 c unsweetened coconut, 4 c rolled oats, 1 c sunflower seeds, 1 c wheat germ, 1/4 c sesame seeds, and 1 c chopped pecans.  On the stove, bring to a boil 1 c honey, 1/2 c oil, and 1 T cinnamon.  Once it boils, combine with the oats and nuts.  Spread on 2 oiled 9 x 13" baking pans and bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 325 degrees oven.  Remove from the oven to stir every ten minutes (twice) and then for the last 10 minutes, every 5 minutes.  Allow to cool undisturbed.  Once the granola is cooled mix in 1 c dried tart cherries and I c dried cranberries.

Chocolate Pudding.  Let me just start by saying if you have never had homemade, made from scratch chocolate pudding you haven't eaten chocolate pudding.  I prefer to make this with the leftover unhomogenized local milk I use for yogurt.  I think the pudding is actually best eaten warm, but it is still mighty fine after it's been cooled and refrigerated.  This is a more time intensive recipe--it involves standing at the stove and stirring quite a bit, but I have found this quite bearable if I am watching Grey's Anatomy at the same time (a true comfort evening!)

The recipe:  Mix 1/3 c cocoa, 1 c sugar, 2 T cornstarch, and 1/2 t salt in a pan.  Gradually stir in 2 c milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil one minute.  Remove from heat, gradually stir in 1/2 of milk mixture into 2 egg yolks (slightly beaten).  Gradually stir egg yolks into saucepan.  Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat (again).  Stir in 2 t butter and 1 t vanilla.  Chill (if you haven't eaten all of it while it was still warm).

Oatmeal Pancakes:  Soak 3/4 c rolled oats in 1 1/2 c milk for 5 minutes.  Add 2 egg yolks (beaten) and 1/4 c oil.  Mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine 1 c whole wheat flour, 2 T sugar, 1 T baking powder, 1 t salt, and 1 t cinnamon.  Add to oatmeal mixture.  Beat 2 egg whites until stiff.  Fold egg whites into batter.  Fry in skillet until golden brown, turning once.

Since both kids are now eating pancakes, I double this recipe for our family of 4.  One recipe would be enough if we didn't want leftovers.  However, if I double it, we will have pancakes for breakfast for the next several mornings (reheated in the toaster oven).

That looks like a lot!  I'll save the kids' meal (Spaghetti Pie) and cheddar waffles for another posting.  

We did manage to make it to the Farmer's Market yesterday before our birthday party.  It ended up being a big spending day--I needed a chicken (which I got a 5 3/4 lb bird, the farmers told me how proud they were of the rooster because it's been their biggest chicken in a while.  I love the information you get by shopping at the Farmer's Market!), honey, and Curtis wanted a lot of apples for apple pies (both for us and to give to friends).  I also was looking for bacon, but neither pork farmer had any this week.  Bacon is one of those things that is often hard to find for some reason.  

Off to finish the waffles...I think I'll go with sausage gravy on top (that makes it seem a little more dinner like) and bok choy salad on the side.