green clover sugar cookies - how to convince a picky eater

Mid-baking my green lime cheesecake, the fear of failure came over me. What if my cheesecake came out like crap? What if I really didn't like lime flavored things? Damn- I needed a for-sure thing that I knew my boyfriend and I would enjoy- I mean, I couldn't ruin Saint Patrick's Day for us! (Joke, because neither of us are Irish, nor do we care about the holiday itself). Well we all know my boyfriend absolutely loves chocolate chip cookies, but those couldn't be tinted green without looking like crap (literally). I went through other cookie recipes, specifically looking for light colored ones. All arrows pointed to sugar cookies- supposedly one of my boyfriend's "least favorite cookie".


Ehh, who the hell cares! I've changed his mind so many other times (making him change his favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, watching him enjoy underbaked cookies, tricking him into liking eggnog cookies, and the list goes on). I'm sure with enough convincing, he'll learn to love these sugar cookies as much as I do. And remember now, I've been on the quest to find the perfect sugar cookie for a while... and I think I finally found it.


Dumb action for the day: Adding the food coloring to the dry batter. Duhh, I should have rethought that one. It was pretty hard to thoroughly mix the color evenly (and we know how terrified I am of overmixing batter).


Okay, so the dough was slightly speckled with different shades of green, but whatever. I rolled the dough into three evenly sized balls and slightly squished them on top of another.


During the baking process, the there little balls overlapped and formed a bond, creating these mini three-leaf clovers!


But, we know I could do better than that. First of all, clovers are supposed to have four leaves (I guess I had a brain fart earlier), and second of all, the overlapping effect wasn't working for me.


I also made them smaller- making them even more cuter (if that was even possible).


So what did my picky-eater think of these sugar cookies? I know him all too well- he obviously enjoyed them because the entire plate was gone before Saint Patrick's Day was even over. The funny thing was he didn't even realize he was devouring sugar cookies. Only after all the clovers were missing did I ask him, "So you do like sugar cookies?", to which he replied, "I guess so". End of story.

---RECIPE---
Taken from Cook's Illustrated.

Recipe found here.

super bowl - football shaped brown sugar cookies - i have officially learned my lesson

Apparently my boyfriend really liked the doggy bone shaped brown sugar cookies I made last week... Shocking right? Once again, I prove my point that he doesn't even know what he likes or dislikes (He always used to tell me how he didn't like sugar cookies, but apparently that was a lie). So for the Super Bowl I thought I'd make them yet again, but this time in little football shapes. It was perfect- the cookies were the appropriate shade of dark brown that they would basically resemble actual mini footballs. I know- I'm just too adorable for my own good.


I'm a pro now when it comes to browning butter (such a hard feat, I know).


Before we go any further, let me just introduce you to the newest member of my family- His name is Hamilton Beach and he has come to rescue me from unsatisfactory mixing. No longer will I have only 2 speeds of either super-fast or super-di-duper-fast, and no longer will I have to smell the burning of mechanics from my cheap ass $7 hand mixer (R.I.P.). Although you will be missed cheap hand mixer (not really), I have to say that I am grateful to have this $15 souped up hand mixer. (I really splurged on this guy.)


Another lesson I learned from last time was to use fresh dark brown sugar. The sugar was as smooth as a baby's bottom and there were no hard chunks in sight. I did not have to constantly mix the batter into oblivion, nor did I have to use my fingers to squish individual clumps of sugar. Holy crap- did changing those two things make such a huge difference. Thinking back at last time, I wasn't even sure this batter would mix together without the eggs; but as you can see here, it very easily did.


And now the fun part- cutting out the shapes! (Oh, and eating the scraps as I went along.)


I tried to cut them out a little thicker than last time. Since the recipe called for rolling them into balls and simply dropping them onto the cookie sheet, I felt bad cutting out shapes because I knew they wouldn't spread out as much and be as chewy (Reminder for next time: Make these as drop cookies! Those would be delicious.)


Okay, so they did spread a little. The photos make them look a lot rounder than they actually were, but trust me, they were still adorable (well, as adorable as a football could get).


There we go! I piped a little cream cheese icing for the football laces to make them even cuter.


We already knew these would taste good- but I just didn't realize how much better they would be just by using better ingredients/products. I owe it all to my new pack of dark brown sugar and my new Hamilton Beach.


I was actually really surprised to hear that basically everyone loved these. But then again, how could I doubt Cook's Illustrated?

---RECIPE---
Taken from Cook's Illustrated.

ingredients:
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1+3/4 sticks)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

directions:
1. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter to melt; set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. In shallow baking dish or pie plate, mix granulated sugar and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, rubbing between fingers, until well combined; set aside. Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in medium bowl; set aside.
3. Add remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and salt to bowl with cooled butter; mix until no sugar lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.
4. Divide dough into 24 portions, each about 2 tablespoons, rolling between hands into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Working in batches, toss balls in reserved sugar mixture to coat and set on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart, 12 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but it will take 3 batches.)
5. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are browned and still puffy and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone; see photo below), 12 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Do not overbake.
6. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

amount:
Makes 2 dozen cookies

---RECIPE FOR ICING---
Idea from Cook's Illustrated.

ingredients:
1 ounce cream cheese
1+1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

directions:
Beat cream cheese and add as much powdered sugar and milk until reached desired consistency.

brown sugar cookies - so the birthday girl's daddy won't feel left out

So, did you think I would bake doggy cookies for my boyfriend's puppy, yet not bake him anything? Well you were wrong. Of course I had to- I mean, those puppy cookies tasted like crap and they had the forbidden peanut butter ingredient. I decided to try a new cookie recipe (no Cook's Illustrated Thick and Chewy, no regular sugar cookie)- I needed something new, but something I knew he'd like. Searching through Cook's Illustrated's recipes online, I came across their famous Brown Sugar Cookie. I had such a success with their regular sugar cookie, and I knew that the brown sugar addition would make it extra chewy.


I have heard of "browning butter" before, but I've never personally done it. The recipe said to cook the melted butter for about 3 minutes, or until it smelt nutty. I'm sorry- I don't know what nutty butter smells like. I was about 5 minutes into mixing the butter where I started thinking I should just take it off the stove and call it done. Luckily, I chose to keep my pan on the stove for an extra minute, where I watched my butter boil up and literally turn brown. It was amazing; I have been enlightened by this "browning butter" technique.


The 10 tablespoons of browned butter gets mixed with 4 tablespoons of room temperature butter. Seriously guys, who comes up with these overly-accurate measurements?


Midway, I realized that the recipe called for dark brown sugar, opposed to regular brown sugar (which I have pounds and pounds of). I dug deep in my pantry (a.k.a. the basement where I stash my not-so-common ingredients) and found a slightly old box of dark brown sugar. I measured out the sugar, and realized I was 1/4 cup short (hence, the light brown sugar chunk in the photo). The dark brown sugar was so clumpy and so stiff that my hand mixer could barely mix. The mixers would jerk every so often, even to the point where I thought it died on me. I took a look at the batter, and realized that there were huge balls of brown sugar that weren't being mixed (rewind to the Sugar Cookies I made at my mom's house. I ended up doing the same technique of squishing my fingers throughout the entire batter and squashing the balls with my fingertips).


Then- believe it or not- my $7 hand mixer made its last little twirl and died slowly. My cheap ass appliance was no match to this thick brown sugar goop. I knew this day would come, but I just didn't expect it to be this soon. I guess this teaches me to invest a little more in things that are important to me.


I put my hand mixer aside and mixed the rest of the dough by hand. Looking closely, I noticed quite a few small chunks of brown sugar that I didn't squish fully. I mean, I just spent 20+ minutes sifting through the dough trying to break apart these chunks of brown sugar, but I guess it just wasn't enough. And to make it even better, the stupid hand mixer didn't get to do its job thoroughly. I really need to invest in better things.


Anyways, I rolled out the dough as thick as I could (because the directions were to make regular balls of dough and let them spread out, as if you were making drop cookies). I knew that by rolling and cutting these cookies out, they wouldn't be as chewy as I'd like, but I just thought the doggy bones were too cute.


I started doubting myself at this point. These were not cookie cutter cookies (yet I rolled and cut them out), these needed to be thoroughly mixed (obvi not because of the dark brown swirls in the picture), and these needed fresh dark brown sugar (opposed to the old crusty chunks of old dark brown sugar that I used).


To make it even better, the cookies spread out after being baked. They looked like a cross between a dog bone and a puffy cloud.


As for the taste- I can't even begin to describe. I know it doesn't look like it, but the inside was chewy and moist and had the perfect sugar cookie texture. It was slightly chewier and sweeter than the Cook's Illustrated Sugar Cookie, probably because of the dark brown sugar. Overall, I was completely blown away and honestly proud of these doggy cookies.


So what did my picky-eater think of these cookies? He "doesn't like sugar cookies" and every cut out cookie I've given him he didn't care for. Not only that, but he was hesitant to try these because they were in the same shape as the actual doggy cookies. With all that aside, he surprisingly liked these cookies. Within a few days, the entire container of these cookies were demolished and I have turned a sugar-cookie-hater into a sugar-cookie-somewhat-lover.

---RECIPE---
Taken from Cook's Illustrated.

ingredients:
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1+3/4 sticks)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

directions:
1. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter to melt; set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. In shallow baking dish or pie plate, mix granulated sugar and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, rubbing between fingers, until well combined; set aside. Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in medium bowl; set aside.
3. Add remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and salt to bowl with cooled butter; mix until no sugar lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.
4. Divide dough into 24 portions, each about 2 tablespoons, rolling between hands into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Working in batches, toss balls in reserved sugar mixture to coat and set on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart, 12 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but it will take 3 batches.)
5. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are browned and still puffy and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone; see photo below), 12 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Do not overbake.
6. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

amount:
Makes 2 dozen cookies

sugar cookies - cook's illustrated leads to my 4th attempt

So at this point I have two cookie recipes to add to the gift box to give to my parent's neighbors- chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin, both Cook's Illustrated recipes. I figured, why stop there? I might as well add a third Cook's Illustrated cookie recipe to the bunch. While searching, I read rave reviews over the sugar cookie recipe. Seriously, am I going to attempt a fourth try at this cookie? (parts 1, 2, and 3 all proceedingly got better, but nothing close to being a true sugar cookie). Once again, I'm putting all my faith on Cook's Illustrated, and yes, I just had to try the recipe. Another thing I should note is that these aren't the roll and cut sugar cookies, so hopefully this plays an important role in their success.


I wanted to be as thorough as possible while preparing this cookie. I once again halved the recipe, just as I did with the oatmeal raisins. When they stated 1 heaping tablespoon of brown sugar (1/2 tablespoon in my case), I literally made sure I was exact.


After creaming the butter and sugars together, I noticed there were small lumps. I specifically told my mom to buy new brown sugar (because hers was old and hard) but she told me to just microwave it and it'll be back to normal. After microwaving, the brown sugar was malleable, but I didn't realize how lumpy it was until I mixed it in. The left photo you can barely see the ball of brown sugar, but in the right photo you can see how it looks after I fished the crap out.


The perfectionist I am, I sat there for about 10 minutes digging my fingers (cleaned of course) through the mixture and fished out all the balls to crumble them. I tried my hardest to thoroughly mix everything, but I knew that there'd still be some chunks hiding.


And now onto my next lesson- splitting a single egg in half. Yes, I really am that determined to follow the recipe precisely. I first separated the yolk and whites, and then slowly dropped half of each into my batter. It turned out to be not that bad, and I'm pretty sure I was almost exact in the end.


Everything started to form together, and it appeared that I had correctly made my fourth batch of sugar cookie dough. Once again, into the fridge.


This is where Cook's Illustrated starts to piss me off- where they go into crazy detail on how to prepare the dough to bake. I don't understand what it means to have a bowl of cold water and use the bottom of a glass and something about sugar... Ughh. I rolled them into 1.5 inch balls (or what I thought) but I did not roll them into sugar (once again, learning from my mistakes). I flattened them, like they wanted me to, and I instead dipped one side into the sugar and placed them facing up on the sheet.


After taking them out of the oven, I was very skeptical. Although they were slightly puffier looking that my previous sugar cookies, they still lacked the typical look of a sugar cookie.


Okay, I don't understand- about 1/4 of the batch came out slightly burnt at the bottom. First of all, there was no sugar on the bottom (this was the case in my Peanut Butter Blossoms), and I by no means over-baked them. I can never win with these damn sugar cookies.


So once they cooled, I took my first bite of my fourth attempt at sugar cookies.


You'll never believe me, but these sugar cookies tasted delicious! I don't know how/why I doubted Cook's Illustrated yet again, even after I told myself not to.


The texture, the consistency, the taste, the everything- was perfect. The sugar was not overpowering and the cookie as a whole was not hard or crisp (like they have been in the past). For that matter, the exterior wasn't even hard, which it should not be in the case of a sugar cookie.


So I thought about why these came out a success- First of all, these were not the roll-and-cut cookies which needed cookie cutters. This probably allowed for a thicker piece of dough, which in turn leads to the right chewiness. Also, the small inclusion of brown sugar definitely had something to do with it, because brown sugar also results in chewier cookies. But what bothers me is that I always thought confectioner's sugar in a sugar cookie recipe would yield the best results, but the inclusion of it is completely missing in this recipe. Although these cookies came out excellent, I'll probably still continue to try other sugar cookie recipes, possibly including both brown sugar and granulated sugar- but we'll see later on in the future.

---RECIPE---
Taken from Cook's Illustrated

ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably Pillsbury or Gold Medal (don't you love how specific they are?)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened but still firm (60 to 65 degrees) (okay, this is going a bit overboard. no, I did not take the temperature of my butter.)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar, for rolling dough
1 heaping tablespoon light brown sugar
1 large egg
1+1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

directions:
1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 375 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.
2. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment or with hand mixer, beat butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add egg and vanilla; beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.
3. (now comes the ridiculous instructions) Place sugar for rolling in shallow bowl. Fill medium bowl halfway with cold tap water. Dip hands in water and shake off excess (this will prevent dough from sticking to your hands and ensure that sugar sticks to dough). Roll heaping tablespoon dough into 1 1/2-inch ball between moistened palms; roll ball in sugar, then place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, moistening hands after forming each ball and spacing balls about 2 inches apart on baking sheet (you should be able to fit 12 cookies on each sheet). Using butter wrapper, butter bottom of drinking glass; dip bottom of glass in remaining sugar and flatten dough balls with bottom of glass until dough is about 3/4 inch thick.
4. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges and just set and very lightly colored in center, 15 to 18 minutes, reversing position of cookie sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking time. Cool cookies on baking sheet about 3 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

amount:
Makes about 2 dozen