Buttercookies or Vanillekritzken

I just can`t describe what an amazing  vanilla flavour these cookies have. Sandwitched together with jam or your favorite spread (such as Nutella) they are a must for any holiday treat.

 

I felt like they needed something extra, to make them even more fancy. So I decorated mine with royal icing. Each cookie has a different design, but I think these are the prettiest. :D

It took me almost the entire day just to decorate them, so I suggest you bake them a day ahead.

 

Of course, there`s no need for you to decorate them, but in my opinion...well, it`s Christmas and why not make something special?

Also, one more thing you should know: buttercookies are the best after they have "aged" a bit. That means you have to leave them at roon temperature for at least one day. They are at their best only after 3 days.

I know, waiting for a delicious treat can be sometimes painful, especially if it smells so good (like these do), but it`s worth it. They will be soft, flavourfull and perfect to be eaten.

   

 Please note that these cookies have a lot of butter in them, which helps taste and flavour, so I wouldn`t recommend using margarine. Eventually, shortening would work as well as butter, but again, butter is the most important ingredient. Make sure you use a good quality one. It`s better if you spend a couple more money on high quality ingredients.

 

Here is the recipe with full instructions:

Ingredients:

250 grams butter (that`s about 2 sticks and 1/4) room temperature!

250 grams brown sugar (white granulated sugar works as well)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

grated lemon peel from 1/4 lemon

2 eggs+1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

450 grams all purpose flour

For decorating (this step is optional)you`ll need royal icing different colours and sprinkles.

Directions:   

1. Line 3 cookie trays (or known as "cookie sheets") with parchment paper. Set aside.  

2. Beat the room temperature butter for 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

 Then break the eggs, separately, and beat each one in, making sure everything is very well incorporated. Add the egg yolk too.

In comes the vanilla extract and garted lemon peel.

3. Switch to a spatula and incorporate the flour and the baking soda in the mixture mentioned above. You should get a dough that forms into a ball. Take it out of the bowl, wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1 hour.

4. After such time, take the dough out. Meanwhile,  preheat your oven at 375 degrees F/ 180 Celsius. Add a bit of flour to your work surface, to make sure that nothing sticks, and flour your rolling pin as well.

5. Roll the dough ball into a rectangle or circle (the shape doesn`t matter) that should be 1/4  cm thick.   

6.Now choose your favourite cookie cutters, dunk them in a bit of flour before cutting into the dough. 

7. Arrange the cookies on your prepared baking sheets and bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until you see the edges start to brown. Take the tray out, put it on a wire rack. Let it stand for 3 minutes. After such time, take the cookies and set them on a big platter to cool completely.

That`s it! Get to decorating :D

Happy Holidays ;)

 

   

 

  

 

Fun&Easy Cookie Decoration Ideas

You know, Christmas is coming and everybody (even those who normally don`t bake very often) makes cookies. Served plain or with a touch of icing, but what if your cookies had something special?

 

I must apologize for the "bleeding" of the icing, but, hey, it was my first attempt in decorating cookies and I did pretty well. For a beginner, of course.

I came up with this small ideas thanks to someone I know. She posted on Facebook a picture showing some festive decorated cookies and I asked if she made them. Her answer was that she didn`t do it, but she`d like to. 

So I figuired out that a tutorial on my blog might help some of you to impress guests with these. Aren`t they just cute?

 

Now, I used several methods of decorating the cookies, but first of all, I present to you my recipe for royal icing.

Ingredients 

1 egg white

150 grams powdered sugar

food coloring(mainly red, blue, green and yellor but I used only red and blue)

Directions 

Beat the egg white until frothy, or until you trace a small line with your fingertip and it holds. Like in the picture below:

With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar. The icing, when lifted, should fall in ribbons. Like this:

Now It`s time to dye your icing in the desired colors. Keep in mind that for each color you use, you will need and extra piping bag.

Time for decorating!
1.Method:(Snowflake)
Take some icing and put it on the cookie. Take a toothpick and even it out.

 See? You need a bit of patience.
Now that you have this done, take the piping bag which has the white icing and pipe strips on the blue icing. Gently tap the cookie to help the icing set. 
To give your  snowflake that magic cristal effect, dunk it in granulated white sugar.

Aaaand here you have it:

 

2.Method:(Hearts)

Put some icing on the cookie and spread it evenly with a toothpick. After that, take the piping bag (which has the white royal icing in it) and pipe small dots. Take the toothpick and place it just above the white dot, tracing a line trough it.

     Finished! Here you go:D

 

3.Method:(Marble)

This is the easiest methods of all. 

After you finished decorating and you still have some icing left but don`t want to waste anything, simply put a tablespoon of the other icings, swirling it aroung in the air. Just like in the picture below:

                                     

Take a cookie and dunk it in this mixture (without having stirred anything) and let the excess drip off. This is what you should have:

 

Note: Let the icing set for at lest 3 hours before handing your decorated cookie.

 

I`m sorry for the low quality of my photos but, again, the light wouldn`t cooperate! :D I hope this tutorial helped. I`d love to know how they turned out for you.

Lots of love and may you have the greatest holidays! 

 

 

   

  

  
 

  

   

 

Carrot Muffins

When I first told people what these muffins were made of, I could clearly see on their faces that expression "Carrots in muffins? No thanks.", but many of them seem not to know that carrots, when cooked, are a burst of flavor and add natural sweetness. That means you can have a delicious and healthy muffin at the same time.

Bless the lazy Sundays! My main activity in that day is doing anything but studying. Reading a good book, going horseback riding or watching TV are the best ways for me to relax.

I mean, everybody needs it. Besides these things, Sunday is the day when I usually crave something sweet that has to be homemade. And nothing beats a nice batch of muffins.

There is one thing I demand when having a muffin: moistness. I hate biting out of a dry one. So this is why I added sour cream to the batter. 

You might not have heard (if you are not a fan of baking) that sour cream, buttermilk,oil and applesauce help the cakes or sweetbreads become more moist and tender. So this is why I used both sour cream and oil in this recipe. 

You know, I mentioned that these muffins are healthy as well, so the amount of oil and sour cream is just 1/2 cup each. 

Here you go, the recipe with full instructions:

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

a pinch of salt

3/4 (three quarters) Tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup of raisins (I used golden but any type works)

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

3 Tablespoons shredded coconut

3 large carrots, grated

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 vegetable (canola,sunflower or walnut) oil

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon lemon zest (grated lemon peel)

Directions:

1. Bring 1/2 of water to a boil and soak the raisins, set aside while you are preparing the rest. 

2. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F/180 Celsius and line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin paper liners or spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

3.In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, walnuts, raisins (after you took them out of the water), grated carrots and shredded coconut. These are your dry ingredients.

4. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and the sugar until pale in color. Add the lemon zest, vanilla extract, oil and sour cream. Beat well. These are your dry ingredients

5.Now make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients. With the help of a spatula, combine everything together but do not over-mix(or else you will have a tough, dense muffin)! Just until you see no flour traces in the batter.

6.Divide the batter into the muffin cups, filling it about 3/4. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes (depending of your oven) or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, with no wet batter on it but a few moist crumbs.

7. After you checked if the muffins are ready, take the tray out of the oven and transfer it on a wire rack and let the muffins rest in the pan for 5 minutes. Now take them out and enjoy! :)

Beetroot Velvet Cupcakes

What can I say? That these are a real succes? That the cream cheese frosting is "the cherry on top"? I guess you have to make it yourself to see. :)

After ruining batches of cupcakes, I finally came up with this recipe that uses beetroot in the batter. Yes, heard me right: beetroot. This vegetable and its dark red colour adds moisture to the cupcake base and doesn`t affect the taste, because you have to use only the juice, which I`ll talk about in one minute.

 

See? It is just so pretty that eating one feels like a crime. I them to stay like this forever so I can keep them as a decoration in the kitchen. :) 

Now, back to the beetroot. So what you are actually doing is peel it and cut it in thin pieces (so the colour comes out too) and boil it in half a cup of water for 10 to 15 minutes or until the water is like blood. You discard the pieces and transfer the red water they`ve been boiling in, in a shallow bowl. Keep that bowl in the fridge until it is lukewarm or completely cool. This is your beetroot juice and you are ready to use it.

 

Another thing which adds moisture to the cupcakes is buttermilk. All the velvet cupcakes recipes out there require buttermilk because is also enhances colour. 

So what if you ran out of buttermilk and everything you have on hand is plain milk? You make your own!

Maybe you think I`m mad, but homemade buttermilk works just the same. 

Here`s how you do it:  

1 cup whole milk 

2 and 1/2 Tablespoons white vinegar

Add the vinegar to the milk and let it rest for 5 to 15 minutes. 

Just watch the magic happen: the milk will thicken and will have the same consistency as the store bought one. If you studied chemistry, you know that vinegar is acetic acid combined with water(usually between 3% and 18%). Also, the vinegar contains citric acid which curdles the milk, so don`t worry if your milk looks like that. 

Now...my favourite part: the cream cheese frosting! That smooth, glossy texture is just food porn. I mean, don`t you feel like licking the screen?

 

I`m warning you: these cupcakes are very high in calories because of the high fat content in the cream cheese (70% fat) and the butter (82% fat). So if you are on a diet, you might want to leave this page. :D There are no people who could resist the temptation of gobbling these up.

Ok, I`m done with introductions, so I`ll let you stare at them for a little while.

 

Ingredients:

Cupcake base

1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 and 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup betroot juice 

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sugar

Cream cheese frosting:

50 grams butter at room temperature

110 grams cream cheese 

320 grams powder sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven at 375 degrees F/180 Celsius. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with muffin paper or spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda. These are your dry ingredients.

3. In another bowl, beat the eggs and the sugar until pale in colour. Add the vanilla extract, oil, buttermilk and mix. Gently pour the cold beetroot juice and stir once more. These are your wet ingredients.

4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined. Do NOT overmix or you will have a dense, tough cupcake. Please note this batter is quite runny, but it is all right to be like that.

5. With a spoon or an ice cream scoop, divide your batter into the muffin cups. Each one should be 3/4 full.

6. Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with tiny crumbs on it. Let them rest in the pan for 5 minutes. After such time, take them out and let them cool completely before frosting them. 

For the Cream Cheese frosting: 

 Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and half of the amount of sugar and beat more with your mixer. Incorporate the rest of the sugar. 

Now have fun decorating!

 

 

 

  

 

  

  

 

Extremely Fudgy Brownies

When I`m telling you that these Brownies are so sinfully delicious, you won`t believe me...until you try one yourself.

Behind this photo and recipe, lie a lot of unsuccessful attempts of creating the perfect, fudgy Brownie. A bitter chocolate taste, dry or cakey inside are just a couple of my results when trying to get that gooey, slightly sticky texture which I love.

Come on! Personally, I could not resist helping myself to a small piece. And when I`m saying "small piece"...I mean it! 

The reason I did not (but wanted to) eat more is that I had to bake some goodies for a charitable show. These Brownies, the Chocolate Chip Cookies, Biscotti, Brutti ma buoni (this means "ulgy but good" in italian), Apple Cinnamon Muffins, Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins and Carrot Muffins were to be sold during the break of the show. The money is to help poor children. 

I have to admit that I baked a total of 6 hours and didn`t feel a bit tired when I remembered I was doing it for a good cause. Plus, I love baking so I`m not complaining. 

Whatever, the recipe is quite easy, but beginners beware! I melted the butter and cocoa powder on a double-boiler. 

For the ones who don`t know what a double-boiler(aka "bain marie') is, you just bring a pot of water to a simmer. After that, just find another pot that fits over the first one and put that over it! Sounds complicated? Google or search on youtube "How to Cook in a Bain-Marie or Water Bath". 

Why use this method? First of all, if you try melting cocoa powder or chocolate together with butter over flame...you are going to obtain bad results. Just trust me when I`m telling you this. I might be only 15 years old, but I`ve done a lot of mistakes and learned from them.

Now, you probably want to know how a Brownie gets its fudgy texture. There are three ingredients: butter, brown sugar and extra egg yolks. Also, the amount of flour you put into the batter matters. If you put quite much flour, you will have a cakey brownie, but if you use just a couple of tablespoons: POOF! Fudgy Brownies for ya. 

 I know they are thin, but that depends on how big or small your pan is. Also, you should know that this Brownie does not rise! So if you want a sky-high one, then you`ve come to the wrong place. 

Of course there will be a cakey, fluffy and light brownie recipe on my blog, but not now. I like the slightly stickiness of a brownie and I finally got it.

Ingredients:

200 gr butter

300 gr sugar

35 gr unsweetened cocoa powder

1 whole egg+2 egg yolks

75 gr all purpose flour

75 gr nuts (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven at 325 degrees F/160 Celsius. Line a square(works best) 9X9 (or smaller) baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.

Advice: ALWAYS use parchment paper when making brownies, because they are very sticky and you won`t be able to take them out. Especially because fudgy brownies are crumbly and will easily break apart.

2.Over a pot of simmering water, put another pot where you put the cubed butter. Add the cocoa powder and stir it constantly until the butter has melted completely.

Advice:After the butter melts, it will separate from the cocoa powder and it will look like a mess. Don`t worry, once you add the sugar everything will come together beautifully. 

3. Take the pot with the butter+cocoa mixture off the pot with simmering water. Add the sugar and vanilla extract, mix well until everything looks smooth.

4. Whisk the whole egg until completely blended, then do the same with the egg yolks, beating well after each yolk.

5. Sift the flour and using a spatula, incorporate it. Add the nuts and mix one more time, but only to fold them in. Over-mixing will give you a tough brownie.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake the brownies for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with moist crumbs on it. 

Advice: You don`t want to let the brownie bake for more than that, because it will burn and you won`t have anything but a dry chocolate cake.

7. Let the brownie cool completely into the pan before cutting it. I know it is so hard to wait, but if you try to cut it while it`s still hot, it will break apart. Grab a glass of milk and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well...how could words describe this famous treat? 

Just...look at them and I`ll try to figure out what to say.

Maybe you never had one (but I don`t think there is a person who did not have the occasion of taking a bite of this piece of heaven) and I`m not sure why, because almost every cafeteria or coffee shop or bakery or whatever, sells this beauties. And the best part is that they are not expensive.

But why spend a lot of money when you can have as many as you want (I am exaggerating a little) straight out of the oven, when the chocolate is still warm and gooey? Just dunk them in a glass of milk. 

Wait, if you still need a reason for baking them, here`s another one :they are extremely quick and easy to make.

You don`t have to wait hours for the butter to soften, because my recipe uses vegetable oil. Yes, oil. That thing you fry food in and people avoid because they say it`s fattening. I know I`m being a bit too indulging but it`s the cold season and winter is giving me a bad mood, so I need something to cheer me up while watching my favorite movie and so do you.

Like many of my recipes, this one requires something to ensure softness. An additional egg yolk. The yellow stuff I normally don`t eat because it is high in cholesterol...but I`m not here to discuss health business. So, after testing several recipes and failing, the baker which lies inside me is so excited to share the recipe with you! 

Without any other introductions, I present to you Chocolate Chip Cookies:

(This recipe makes a batch of 15-20 cookies, depending of how much dough you use per piece)

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

a pinch of salt ( that is about 1/4 teaspoon)

3/4 a cup of vegetable oil (canola, sunflower or walnut oil, not olive or other stuff because it affects the taste of your cookie)

2 or 3 Tablespoon of buttermilk

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon honey (glucose or corn syrup work too)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or your favorite chocolate cut into small cubes 

Directions:

1.Preheat your oven to 375 degrees/180 Celsius. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the chocolate chips.These will be your dry ingredients.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the whole egg + egg yolk. Whisk in the sugar and beat more. Add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract and honey. Combine everything. This is your wet mixture.

4. Make a small well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour your wet mixture in. With the help of a spatula, mix it together until it forms a spoon-able dough. 

5. An ice cream scoop works best when putting the dough on the baking tray. Use that for perfect sized cookies. But if you don`t have one, just use two tablespoons. 

Advice: Leave a generous space between your dough because, as the cookies bake, the dough will spread and you don`t want anything to stick. So think carefully before putting all the dough balls on the tray. 

6. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. You know they are done when the edges start browning a bit. Take them out of the oven and let them sit for 5-10 minutes on the tray. Now you can finally enjoy them!