Day 17: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Oh the guilt! Today I took the easy way out. I made these cookies from a box of red velvet cake mix (cue the Gasps!). And not very original either. Seems everywhere you look now days there is a red velvet something or other, and the whoopie pie has been making a bigger comeback than Cher did in the 90s.***note: I will take suggestions on a better to joke to insert here***
But hey! It is now Day 17...I have now made 16 different kind of cookies...e v e r y d a y. Besides, they are soooooo darn cute! I do wish, however I had made them a little smaller. The only dipper I have is a 2oz, and I just wasn't too excited about getting red sticky batter all over my hands.
The cookie part is so simple:

• any flavor cake mix
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg  

Mix well and drop onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes.
Now for the best part...the filling!!! I think this is where the "whoopie" part of the name must have come from.

• 1/4 butter, softened
• 8oz cream cheese
• 7oz. jar of Marshmallow Cream

Beat until smooth.The recipe said to fold the marshmallow cream into the butter and cream cheese mixture, but that wasn't working out too well for me, so I just kept the beater going. I think over the next few weeks every single cookie I make will somehow feature this mixture. I think I will eat sandwiches filled with this or maybe stuff chicken breasts with it, I don't know...but I must find an excuse to make this everyday for the rest of my life.

Day 16: These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

I have been in love with butter since I can remember. I have been in love with Cayucos, Ca since I was 16. I have been in love with my husband since I was 18. I have been in love with Imbibe-Wine and Spirits since last year. All of these things came together a few weeks ago...sort of. While casually enjoying a glass of wine with the aforementioned husband at the aforementioned Imbibe, I discovered these amazing little cookies sitting right on the counter. The box was adorable (I am a sucker for packaging-a marketing professionals dream). The cookies were made by a little cookie company called The Brown Butter Cookie Company in Cayucos. SOLD! Not the kind of cookies you look at and drool, (maybe that's why the box is cute), just kind of average looking, certainly not average tasting.
 Let's recap: butter; cookies from Cayucos; wine at Imbibe; my husband. The only way that day could have been better... if we had been at Imbibe in Cayucos and I was 15 pounds thinner.

Knowing there was no chance the magical bakers who created this little cookie-wonder would be posting the recipe on the Internet, I did not get my hopes up too high. Then along came The Yummy Mummy, with a recipe right there for all to see. My plan was to get these made before the Chicago Bears play today and eat them all while I watched the game. Not Imbibe nor Cayucos, but Bears football-my husband-brown butter cookies, still three of my favorite things.
When I read the line in the recipe that says "be careful not to burn the butter or you will have to start over" I thought "oh crap, I better make sure I have lots of butter". This is one of those recipes you have to follow to the letter and pay attention to every single step...not usually my style.
Be really careful with the cooking time, 15 minutes proved to be a little too long. When baked too long they become very hard. Also, the salt was a little tricky. Just sprinkling the salt over the cookie didn't seem to be enough. I sprayed the bottom of a juice glass with a little Pam then dipped it in the salt then ever so lightly on to the good-this add too much salt.
If you have the means, I highly recommend driving to Cayucos and buying a gross of these.

*****BONUS*****

I created this variation my self:  Lemon-Sage Brown Butter Cookies

Add about 10 fresh sage leaves to the butter as it is browning. Remove leaves after the butter has browned.

Finish as recipe states then top with a glaze of butter, confectioners' sugar, milk and lemon emulsion.

Finally, if you are wondering what makes my husband so special, he went to Fresh and Easy at 9am to buy me sea salt!!

Day 15: Tic Tac Toe Cookies

I found the recipe for these Tic Tac Toe cookies right in my own refrigerator, staring me in the face for months. It comes from the back of a bottle of Heinz Ketchup, that's right...a cookie recipe from Heinz's ketchup. My son Steven eats everything with ketchup, my nephew Cameron had to have it at our Thanksgiving dinner...so for them, for my own curiosity, I had to give this recipe a try.
Basically this is a peanut butter cookie recipe. I imagined the good people in the marketing department at Heinz sat around one day and discussed ways to sell more ketchup. Someone mentions cookies as a joke, but then for lack of a better idea, they run with it. Since there is no way possible anyone can come up with a good cookie recipe with ketchup in it, the team, now weary and wanting to go home for the day, decides to just add ketchup to a peanut butter cookie recipe. Peanut Butter cookies: Good. Ketchup: Good. Peanut Butter cookies made with ketchup???
After mixing the dough, my husband and I both stared and sniffed at it, then nervously tasted it. He said, "Are we going to bake it or dip french fries in it?" I said, bake it. He said "oh, because it tastes like buffalo a@#". My oldest son Patrick wouldn't even taste the dough, he sniffed it and said it smelled "disgusting".
The dough also seemed way to wet and sticky to bake. the recipe says to press each cookie with the back of a fork in a cross pattern. I suggest spraying your fork with cooking spray, then dipping in flour before trying to press the fork onto the cookie. Better yet-don't make them at all.
If you have been following this blog, I hope you have found some cookies you would like to make, or have even already made. This time I took a bullet for you...do not make this cookie.


at least they look good

 My son, the ketchup lover, after tasting these said, "that was a mean trick by Heinz".

HOWEVER.....

I did make a back up cookie, well sort of. You know those outrageously delicious Magic Cookie Bars on the back of the condensed milk cans??? The ooey gooey chocolatey ones? Yeah those!! My grandma always called them "Hello Dollies", I'm calling these "How You Doin'?Dollies"! I took some of my chocolate chip cookie dough made with pecans and pressed it into a lightly greased 10X10 square cake pan. Top it with sweetened coconut, more pecans and then more chocolate chips. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the pan and bake a t 350 for about 30 minutes. YUM!!!

Day 14: English Toffee Bars with Chocolate

You want to cut these before the chocolate sets but eat after the chocolate is firm

Did you know there is a website called Christmas-cookies.com?? Where I have been? They have 565 christmas cookie recipes!! To be fair, not all are cookies, some are candies and various treats. So that's where today's cookie comes from. I read this recipe four times before I decided to try it. And at first I think I only chose it out of spite. It is such a simple little recipe I could not fathom how this is supposed to be English Toffee. Then again, I'm not really sure what English Toffee is, so I decided to try them. The user comments all say the recipe is easy, however I didn't really like "Sweetshop" in New York who stated a "dodo couldn't mess these up". Really? Who is "Sweetshop in New York" to judge? Is that a challenge? And could "Sweetshop in New York" really be Martha Stewart?
Aaaaanway...I opted to not add the pecans and instead topped this with chocolate. In the last 5 minutes of baking just sprinkle a bag of chocolate chips over the top and return to the oven. When you remove the pan, spread the chips evenly over the pan with the back of a spoon. If you are adding the chocolate I think you can skip brushing the top with egg white. I didn't dare skip this step though as I did not want to be a "dodo". I also considered skipping the cinnamon and adding vanilla, but again, the damn dodo comment popped up and I thought best to stick to the original recipe as much as possible. In a moment of rebellion, I decided to bake these in an 11" tart pan instead of a 10"X15" pan! HA!

And on the 13th Day She Baked

About 5 days into this self imposed challenge I realized I started way too early. There is no way I am going to be able to make cookies every day. don't get me wrong, I am not quitting, just modifying my rules a little. Hey, it's my game, my rules...right? I decided that after every 12th day, I would bake what I have made so far and find homes for my cookies. Of course the 13th day would just have to fall on Thanksgiving when I have million other things to do, but I got up early, started a little last night and got it done. So here you have it: Days one through twelve. Ta Da!! These are going to my brother in laws house for Thanksgiving and I think one plate will go home with my Grandma. There is still more to bake, but I get a little bit stingy with my dough, saving it for I don't know what...just saving it. I will work through this issue by the end of the day I promise, finish baking the dough I have...except maybe the sugar cookies and the gingerbread...and the chocolate peppermint cookies...and just maybe the Russian Teacakes...

Thank you for indulging me and have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Day 12: FaLaLaLaLa-Meringues

Today's recipe is from Cooks.com. I looked up several recipes for meringues and they are all pretty much the same, so no rhyme or reason as to why I chose this one.
Here's one thing to know about meringues if you have never made them...they are deceptive little liars! You see them in bakeries, magazines, cookbooks and websites and they are so pretty, so simple, you just have to have them for your own. Then you read the recipe and think, "eggs, sugar, vanilla...I have that stuff, looks easy". Yeah, not so much. I have made them before and honestly they are not exactly difficult to make but there are some things to know. First make sure your egg whites are at room temperature; second, for the love of all that is holy, use a stand mixer; third, practice your piping skills before you start; and finally be patient.

the little peaks kept breaking off

I am pretty good a piping, not a professional, but not bad. At 5am, however, I could not find any of my large pastry tips. So I just cut the tip of the pasty bag and opted for the less inspiring "kiss" look. For the cherry-nut meringues though I did kind of want a rustic look, I swear I did not just get lazy. Which reminds of another tip: it's a good idea to draw, or better yet print, out small circles and lay or parchment maper over them while piping. This will give you more uniform shaped cookies. I did not...again, it was 5 am.
Martha Stewart has a recipe on her website for these adorable little peppermint meringues filled with chocolate ganache. If I can find the courage to trust her again I may give them a go.
Another thing about meringues: you always see them with their cute little bottoms dipped in chocolate and then maybe nuts or candies. This too, is not as easy at it may seem. After two I realized I was creating more mess than art and took the easy way out and just drizzled. Gotta love that drizzle!

Non Cookie Break- Jello Crap! Hooray

notice we have graduated to making extremeley large bowls of this

Okay so I know it's not really called Jello Crap, I'm sure it has a real name. Something like Jello Salad I' m sure. But to me Cool Whip+Jello+Cottage Cheese+Pineapple does not equal anything that should be called a salad. But we sooo love our Jello Crap. My Grandma Betty always made it when I was little and my slightly indulgent Grandpa would have let me eat the whole bowl if Grandma didn't step in and stop me. I started making it for holidays when my kids were little and was thrilled to find out my youngest son Steven loved Jello Crap as much as I did. He has been making it every Christmas and Thanksgiving since he was about 6 years old. Now at age 17, I think he finally has it down pat. Now I just have to make sure he doesn't eat it all before Thursday.