Vanilla Bean Angel Pillows

I chose this cookie recipe from last years Better Homes and Garden Christmas Cookie magazine. I'm glad that I keep these year from year just for this reason..even if it is 8 years from now, I now that I will find something that I haven't made yet or maybe I will have made the same recipe 10 times. The bottom line here, I guess, is that I really have an addiction. I just had this conversation this week with a friend, and I am glad to know that I am not the only one with this problem. :)

I love the look of the vanilla bean speckles! :)

These cookies are just what the title describes, vanilla bean pillows. They are light and crumbly and sweet, but more buttery than sweet. Once you bite into it, the vanilla sugar on the outside sticks to your lips and chin...really, it get everywhere..but I think it just adds to the yumminess! The recipe said that this would yield 28 cookies, and that is exactly what I got. I normally go for the ones that make more than that, but I couldn't pass these up. These will be going on my platters this year, and maybe I will roll some of them in red and green sugars.

Don't forget to see what Megan, Barbara, Megan, Kim, and Denise baked up this week!

Vanilla Bean Angel Pillows

From Better Home and Gardens

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

1 cup cold butter, cubed

1/4 cup vanilla sugar*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Cover and process until combined.

Using the tip of a sharp knife, scrape pulp from vanilla bean. Add vanilla pulp to the flour mixture; add butter. Cover and process with several on/off pulses until mixture starts to cling, stopping once to scrape bowl. Gather mixture into a ball.

Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in a preheated oven about 12 minutes or just until edges start to brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool for 5 minutes.

Place vanilla sugar in a small bowl. While cookies are warm, roll them in vanilla sugar to coat. Cool completely on wire rack. Makes about 28 cookies.

*To make vanilla sugar, in a small bowl, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 week, giving it a shake every once in awhile.

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

I probably think that these are the best cinnamon rolls that I have ever had! I made these with my friend, that I do the dinner club thing with, and we froze them. We made up the dough, let it rise, rolled it out and put the butter, sugar and cinnamon, rolled them back up, gave them a quick slice. We then put them in our pan and stuck them in the freezer. I had no idea if they would turn out or not. I pulled them out of the freezer about an hour before I was going to bake them. They thawed out in this hour and had just started to rise some more when I put them in the oven for their 15 minute bake. They puffed up perfectly! I had 20 of them in my pan and every one of them were eaten! I will now have them in my freezer at all times!!

One of the things that I really liked about this recipe was that 1.)it was simple and 2) this recipe makes a ton of them! The only thing I changed on this recipe was the maple glaze. I just went with the standard vanilla glaze, I am thinking a cream cheese glaze next time will be in order!

With The Pioneer Woman's book just coming out, this was the perfect time to try these out. The only thing that I have seen on her book is that it is wonderful! I'm thinking that I am going to have to bring one home to be part of the family! :)

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

1 quart of whole milk
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8+1 cups of all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1 "scant" tsp baking soda
1 heaping Tbsp of salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups melted butter
1 cup of sugar
generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Mix the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. "Scald" the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point.) Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but not hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

Add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it-overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to splurge out of the pan, just punch it down.)

Sprinkle surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam to the roll to seal it. Spread 1 Tbsp of melted butter in seven round, foil cake or pie pans. Then begin cutting rolls approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick and laying them int he buttered pans. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20-30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees until light golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

Maple Frosting

1 bag of powdered sugar
2 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup brewed coffee
1/8 tsp salt

Mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don't skimp on the frosting! :)

This week I chose to go simple. The classic chocolate chip cookie. I made this recipe from Emeril Lagasse's book, There's a chef in my Soup. This is the only recipe that I have made from this book, and probably won't make them again. The taste is fine, but it is just now what I want in a CC cookie. I want a slightly crisp outside and a chewy middle. These just were all crunchy.

I also did a little experiment. Normally, I only will bake on my baking stones. I love them, the bottoms don't burn. I baked half on the baking stone and the other half I baked on parchment paper on a regular aluminum cookie sheet. Here are the differences I found, the ones on the stone didn't brown on the bottoms, but they did spread. The ones on the parchment, stayed more round with hardly any spreading, but they did brown on the bottom. I am curious on how you bake your cookies? I would love to know!

Make sure to go and see the other cookie bakers!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
By: Emeril
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla1 large egg
1 1/2 cups chocolate chip cookies

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream the ingredients on high speed. Scape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the vanilla and egg and mix on medium speed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until batter is stiff-don't overdo it.

Turn off the mixer and, using a large spoon or plastic spatula, fold in the chocolate chips. Using a tablespoon, scoop about 2 spoonfuls of the dough into a ball and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, keeping the scoops about 2 inches apart. Using your fingers or the back of the spoon, press down on each ball of dough to slightly flatten.Bake on 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly brown.

Granola Breakfast Bread

This is the time of year when I want to make bread the most. Any type of bread will do, as long as I am making it. I found this recipe in Dorie's book BFMHTY and it is originally called Oatmeal Breakfast Bread, but I have some left over granola from Bear Naked, btw, if you haven't tried their granola, you should, it is fantastic! But, as I was saying, I had this leftover granola that is vanilla flavored with some almonds and thought it would work just fine...it did! I also left out the dried fruit, just because I didn't have any, but the next time this is made, I am going to add it. I know it will make it even better! I made 4 mini loaves from this one batch, which means that I can get 4 neighbor gifts out of it. That is if I can keep the hubby and kids out of it...or myself!!



Oatmeal Breakfast Bread
By: BFMHTY

For the topping:
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans
1/4 tsp cinnamon

For the bread:
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower
1/4 cup buttermilk or whole milk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1/2 cup diced dried figs, apples or apricots or moist, plump raisins
1 cup old-fashioned oats

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan, or a mini loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Put the pan on a baking sheet.

To make the topping: In a small bowl, using your fingers, toss together the sugar, nuts and cinnamon until evenly mixed, set aside.

To make the bread: Whisk together the eggs, applesauce, oil and buttermilk until well blended.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cloves. Remove 1/2 tsp of the mix and toss it with the fruit, just to coat; set aside. Stir the oats into the bowl. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry and, using a large rubber spatula, stir just until everything is evenly moistened-this is a case where less is more, so don't overdo the mixing. Scatter the dried fruit over the batter and stir to blend. Scrape the batter into the pan and sprinkle over the topping, tamping it down very lightly with your fingers so it sticks.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is beautifully browned and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the bread to a rack to cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pan and unmold. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

**Since I made my loaves in a mini loaf pan, it baked in about 30-35 minutes.

Peanut Butter Blossoms- Week 5

We are at week 5 of the Christmas cookies, and it amazes me how fast time flies! Sometimes, I am in need of a quick cookie recipe that I can just throw together. You know, those that you have all the ingredients in the pantry and you don't need to wait on the butter to soften to room temperature? This cookie is that one.

My friend and I have started this dinner club and the whole point of it is to fellowship with each other and make meals for the freezer. A couple of hours in and we had 3 meals and bread sticks for our freezer. While we were busy making dinners, the hubbies and kiddos needed something sweet. These were the perfect thing. They were quick to make and put into the oven, and I think that they disappeared just as quick!

Wonder what my other cookie bakers have made this week?

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Makes 4 dozen

1/2 cup shortening3

/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp saltgranulated sugar

48 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using an electric mixer, beat shortening and peanut butter together until creamy. Add both sugars, beating until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beating dry ingredients into wet mixture until dough forms.

Using your hands, shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll shaped balls in granulated sugar; turning completely to coat. Place sugared balls of dough into a greased mini muffin pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until cookies turn a very pale brown. Immediately remove pan from oven and press a kiss into the center of each cookie. Carefully remove and place on wire rack to cool completely.

French Macarons-Daring Bakers

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I was excited about this challenge, I have been wanting to make these for a long time. But, as it looks like my little bites of heaven turned out..unfortunately, they did not. This picture is as good as it gets, my friends. The taste was wonderful, looks like I did get the feet, or I should say more of a ruffle...but every one of them stuck and crumbled.

I won't give up on these though. I will try again...someday. :)

Chewy Chocolate Cookies-week 4

This week I chose to make these cookies from the new Holiday Taste of Home Magazine. I love this time of year when all the holidays start, although, I wish it didn't come and go so fast. I made these cookies three days ago and they are still chewy in the middle. I am guessing that it is from the 2 1/2 sticks of butter it uses!! Oh well, I didn't say that they were healthy! :)



My one gadget that I have to have when I am making cookies is my little cookie scoop. I use it with almost every cookie that I make, unless it is a slice and bake, but you know, sometimes I am a little impatient to let my dough chill, and I use the scoop anyway. With this batch of dough, I got 6 dozen cookies out of it! So, if you need a good cookie that makes alot, this one is it!



Need some more cookie ideas? Check out my other cookie bake along friends! They are listed on my side bar.








Chewy Chocolate Cookies



1 1/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips




In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.




Combine flour, cocoa,, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.




Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes or until edges are set. Cool on pans for 1 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.