Don't Throw Those Stale Cookies Away

I had a moment of weakness and bought a box of Pepperidge Farm cookies because they were on sale and I had a coupon. PF makes exceptional cookies but their packaging leaves much to be desired.  Once the plastic has been ripped there's no good way to seal it besides wrapping the entire box in Press-n-Seal. Humidity got to my cookies and made them stale. Humidity...bleh. I've never heard anyone say "I had a good hair day because of the humidity" nor "Leave the package of chips open because humidity makes them taste better."  I was sad that I had to throw an almost full box away because it's such a waste of money.

As I was about to throw the box into the trash I had an idea to try to dry out the cookies in the oven.
I thought to myself, "If moisture made them stale then perhaps heat will dry them out and make them crispy again."

I placed the cookies on an oven-safe dish and put them in the oven at 200 Farenheit for 10 minutes. I left the cookies in the oven until it cooled down. Much to my delight I discovered they were crispy and yummy again.

Thanksgiving with Charlie Brown 2011

Whew! I've been absent from my blog for a while. I had an ear infection that slowly turned into a sinus infection. The process was so slow I didn't realize that I was really sick. I should have known something was wrong when just trying to think took a lot of effort.  I didn't have time to go to the doctor before Thanksgiving so I took a couple of my dad's leftover antibiotic medication. Yes, I know taking other people's medication is not responsible but I had over 30 guests coming and besides, it got me through Thanksgiving.  I just couldn't let something like an ear infection get in my way on Thanksgiving. To top the craziness my dad wanted family pictures which made the day a more stressful but we got through it. I give so much thanks to my husband and oldest son who really helped me in cleaning and getting ready for this day.

Now it seems Thanksgiving has come and gone in a flash and it's time to get ready for Christmas. But before I welcome in the season I want to post some Thanksgiving pics.

Here's a "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" cake that I made. The inspiration came from justjennrecipes.com's Snoopy cupcakes.  I really had fun making this cake.  The Charlie Brown theme seemed to strike a chord within the older generation as opposed to the younger ones at the party. It brought back so many memories for us.  When I was a kid we didn't have the luxury of having 24-hour cartoon networks. Cartoons were reserved for Saturday mornings and holidays specials like Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  And if you missed the show it was too bad - you had to wait until the next year to see it again. We would talk about it at school reminding each other to not forget to watch the show.  I think that's the reason why shows like Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer hold a special place in our hearts rather than this younger generation who can watch whatever they want whenever they want.

For the cake:  I used Petit Toasts (usually found in the deli section) and mini Jelly Bellys because they are the perfect size.  The Charlie Brown images are from various sites which I re-sized on Word.  I glued the images onto cardboard, cut them out and taped them to BBQ skewers.  This helps keep the images standing erect and  the more importantly the cardboard does not actually touch the cake.

Our Dessert Table

My sister made the pumpkin cake balls.

My husband got up at 3am to start smoking 2 briskets.

This is my "I Saw, I Pinned, I Actually Did It" section.  

My gorgeous niece helped me decorate the turkey cookies.

If someone told me how tedious and time consuming making these Gobble Gobble Oreo Turkey Cookies I would have never made them.  They are cute, but not worth the trouble.  I suggest making them a day ahead or enlisting as much help as you can.  I'm so glad my niece helped me because I was about to have a conniption fit.  The idea is from Cookies and Cups blog. She used chocolate Oreos and I used vanilla Oreos because my youngest son doesn't like chocolate.

I Must Have This

Bake On Vinyl Wall Art

$17.50

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie

Yes, the title is correct and not a typo. There is actually a recipe for Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of Jenny Flake at the http://picky-palate.com. Let's all give her a round of applause for sharing.

I found the recipe in the mag below. To be honest I would have never bought this magazine because its price tag is $14.99.  But I couldn't resist the Borders 50% discount, the Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, and the pretty pictures.  Jenny Flake is featured in this magazine with the recipe. But she is so nice that she shares her recipe for free on her blog.

You're probably not even reading what I'm saying right now because your eyes have drifted to the recipe already, right?

 I'm trying to do more organic baking so I used Bob's Red Mill unbleached flour, organic butter, and changed the sugars to 1/2 cup granulated and 1/2 cup organic. I realize that the alterations are a bit oxymoronic considering I'm sticking an Oreo in the middle of the cookie.

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined.  Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2.  In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.  

3. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough.  

4. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.  Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies. 

 

Scoop I used. Put a scoop of dough on top and bottom even though that's not in the picture.

On the first batch my son added more cookie dough than the scoop. I didn't know he was doing this until I noticed a difference in our cookies. The extra dough made the cookie really thick and I had to bake it for 4 an extra minutes. The cookies came out fine, but some were a little doughy. Even though the 2 scoops of dough don't seem like enough, trust me it is. Can you see in the pic above how thick the cookies are?

Here's how flat the cookies look when extra dough is not added. The cookies turn out better.

left to right: regular Oreo, Double Stuf Oreo

Definitely use the Double Stuf Oreo. Look at how skinny the regular Oreos are now. Back in my day (I sound so old) the Double Stuff cookie in the picture was our regular cookie, not this paltry anemic disc on the left. And our Double Stuf was actually 2 separate discs of icing - kids don't know what they're missing these days.  

My 2 chocoholics in the house loved these cookies. I brought them over to my dad's birthday celebration and they disappeared rather quickly.

The Smart Tab

I didn't notice that they added this smart pull tab. Without thinking I just cut the end of the package. If I didn't use most of the cookies I would have berated myself for not seeing this.

Triple Double Oreo Review

The Triple Double Oreo looks yummy. Who doesn't sit here and go "ooooo"?  But let's be honest and ask ourselves, "Why do we love Oreos so much?" We love the icing, not the cookie. The chocolate cookie without the icing is just any other chocolate cookie. The Triple Double in my opinion is "too much cookie and not enough icing."  C'mon Nabisco we all know that hydrogenated oils are super cheap. Give us more filling!!


Betcha Didn't Know Tidbit:  
Hydrox is the brand name for a creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookie that debuted in 1908 and was manufactured by Sunshine (later Sunshine Biscuits). Its name was formed from the atomic elements which make up pure water: hydrogen and oxygen.^[1] Some accounts report the Oreo—introduced later, in 1912—was inspired by the Hydrox, yet Hydrox suffered from the impression of being a knockoff. Compared to the Oreo, the Hydrox had a "tangy, less-sweet filling" and a crunchier cookie that stood up better in milk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrox

These delicious cookies are shared at:
RoCa and Company
Where Nothing Good Comes Easy
DIY Showoff
Happy Hour Projects (super nice host)

Teddy Bear Bread

These baby bear breads are so cute I just wanna eat 'em up.  The blog where I got this pic is in Japanese. It's called "Happy Rainbow 365, fashionable rice every day".  The man's daughter asked him to make these for her. What a good daddy! Using google I translated the site to English but the recipe was still in Japanese. 

http://yaplog.jp/gorogoronta/archive/1106

After researching I found these 2 translations. The ingredients are exactly alike in both recipes except for the amount of dry yeast.  I don't know who's correct. I will definitely make both recipes, but I'm guessing the 2nd recipe is correct because of the details and pics she posted.  I also need to download a cups to grams conversion chart for the measurements. I wonder if America will ever change to the metric system.

http://ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com/bread-bears/2011/02/25/

Here is a simplified version of the recipe listed here –http://kitchen.yaplog.jp/yaplog/RecipePopup.blog?blog_id=1126624&extension_id=976&kind=popup

I kept all the measures metric like the original recipe.

Kuma-chan Pan (Little Bear Bread)

200g Bread Flour
10g Sugar
3g Salt
60g Water
60g Milk
10g Butter
1/2 Teaspoon Dry Yeast

1. Warm the milk to just below boiling in a heavy pan. Place the flour and salt into the bowl. Add the milk, lukewarm water, sugar, and yeast. Combine into a smooth dough.

2. Knead the butter into the bread and form a ball. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

3. (Just noting how much the dough should double via the picture)

4. Place the dough on a rolling mat. Cut off one gram and divide it into 20 pieces for the ears. Divide the rest of the dough into 10 pieces. Allow them to rest for 15 to 20 minutes on a damp tea towel.

5. Gently dampen the dough all around. Lightly press the two ears each onto the head. (The dough is easier to handle when slightly damp.)

6. Gather up the sides of a tea towel to form channels, placing the dough inside the channels, and allow it to rise until doubled in size once again.

7. If you don’t have a tea towel instead, place the dough on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. (If you don’t have paper, spray it with water.) Cover loosely with plastic wrap as it rises. (For baking, you’ll be using the paper-lined cookie sheet)

8. For Brown Bears – Preheat the oven to 220 C, lower to 190 C and bake for 15-20 minutes.

For White Bears – Preheat the oven to 190 C, lower to 160 for the first 10 minutes, then lower 130 for the last 5-10 minutes.

(Know that ovens and bake times will vary)

Draw on the face with a food coloring marker.

I found a 2nd translation. 

http://www.enjoylivingsustainably.com/2011/05/cute-bear-kuma-chan-japanese-bun-recipe/

Kuma-chan pan (Cute bear buns)

Ingredients

• Bread flour: 200g
• Sugar: 10g
• Salt: 3g
• Water: 60g
• Milk: 60g
• Butter: 10g
• Dry yeast: 2 teaspoons

Preparation

Sift flour.
Heat milk until almost boiling and let cool (this encourages the gluten in the bread).

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine the bread flour and salt. Add the water (heated to about 32° C if you’re making this in winter), cooled milk, sugar, and dry yeast. Mix thoroughly. When it resembles one ball, place on a flat surface and knead until a smooth texture is achieved.
2. When smooth, knead in the butter [which has been melted, then cooled to room temperature] bit-by-bit. Place the dough into a round bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place. Wait until the dough has risen to approximately twice its initial size. This is the first stage in letting the dough rise.
   
3. It should look something like this after the first rising.
   
4. Place the dough on a benchtop or chopping board and prepare the bears’ ears by cutting 20 1g pieces and rolling them into small balls. Cut the remaining dough into 10 equal portions and roll into balls. Place all pieces between a pair of damp cloths (e.g. wrung-out teatowels) for 15-20 minutes (use a timer).
   
5. Squeeze each ball a bit to force out any gas pockets, and then re-roll into spheres. Take each large ball and firmly press two ears onto it. Place a damp cloth over them to prevent any drying-out.
   
6. Gently placing all 10 assembled bears into damp “bread mats”, then put them in a warm place for the second rising stage. Make sure all the bears are oriented upwards (to not disturb their ears). Place a damp cloth over everything. Wait until the bears have roughly doubled again in size.
   [I'm not sure what bread mats are, so I followed step 7 below.]
   
7. If you don’t have any “bread mats”, take some oven trays and place them on the benchtop. Placing the bears on the trays, spray with a water atomiser. Take some drinking glasses and fill them with water, then place them in various locations around the tray. Cover the whole lot with plastic wrap, gently dropping the wrap on from above. Wait until the bears have roughly doubled again in size.
   
8. For lightly browned bread, preheat your oven to 220 degrees, then bake the bears for 15-20 minutes at 190 degrees.
   For a white finish, preheat to 190 degrees, bake at 160 degrees for 10 minutes, then drop the temperature to 130 degrees for a further 5-10 minutes. If they start to brown, immediately place an upside-down enamel bowl over them, or cover with aluminium foil. Keep an eye on the bears while baking, because oven temperatures vary and are not always accurate or comparable.
   Now you can decorate your bears with edible seaweed or a chocolate pen to draw the face!
   
9. This recipe was written while using “Haruyutaka” flour. Depending on protein level and seasonal variation, the moisture content of your flour may vary slightly, so please be aware of this.
   [I used standard British Strong Bread flour and it worked well.]

Teddy Bear Bread was shared at:

Design It Chic

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from RRay

Rachael Ray's Official Website

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=2814

I tried to email this recipe to myself but it never came through. I'm posting it here so I can do a quick look up when I need it.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING by Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery on | 07/08/09

The ladies at sugar Sweet sunshine bakery in NYC graciously gave us this recipe. You can use it on cakes, cupcakes or even brownies!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 3 teaspoons vanilla

PREPARATION

Melt chocolate in microwave, checking after each 30 second interval to make sure you do not burn the chocolate. Stir and let cool.

Using the paddle attachment on a Mixmaster or using a hand beater, beat the butter and chocolate together until smooth.

Add 2 cups of the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Cream these ingredients until well blended. Add the rest of the sugar and the milk and combine. Add the vanilla and mix in.

frosting should look like this when ready

Your frosting is ready to be used!

Note! If it is too thick, add a little more milk. If too thin, add a little more sugar.

Mushroom Cookies for Alice in Wonderland Party

This is the process of the sugar cookies I made for my niece's Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party.

I used the recipe for sugar cookies from Martha Stewart's website.  I also used her egg-free royal icing. I cut the recipe in half because it makes way too icing if you're just going to use it for outlining the cookies. I also added about a teaspoon of vanilla powder for more flavor. The vanilla powder does not tint the icing brown as vanilla extract liquid would.

At first I used a knife to cut out the shape of the mushroom. But cutting out a bazillion mushrooms by hand grew tiresome very quickly. Exasperation led to inspiration and I found an Easter basket cookie cutter that was shaped like a mushroom.  Using the cookie cutter was much easier and faster. I like things to be fast and easy except for my man.

voila

After baking outline cookies with royal icing. This creates a barrier so the glaze does not drip down the sides. Royal icing hardens quickly so while you are decorating keep cling wrap over the icing bowl. I also used disposable decorating bags for the royal icing. It is easier than trying to wash out the polyester or canvas bags.

The next process is called flooding. Flood your cookies with a glaze and it spreads out to cover the cookie. I made a simple glaze by mixing powdered sugar, a little bit of milk, vanilla powder, and small amount of pure vanilla extract. I didn't measure anything I just eyeball the consistency. Add more milk if you want it runny and add more sugar if you want it stiffer.  If you don't have vanilla powder there is also clear vanilla extract at Walmart and grocery stores but it's imitation, not pure. The powder vanilla is available at Williams-Sonoma. Martha Stewart ices the entire cookie with royal icing but that is extremely time consuming and tedium is not my medium. The glaze is much faster.

My glaze recipe: 2 cups powder sugar, 10-12 tblsp milk or less than 1/4 cup, 1 tsp vanilla powder, and a drop of pure vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. I like vanilla powder because the vanilla extract makes the glaze beige. There is a product that is colorless vanilla but it is NOT pure vanilla extract. I did have to make another batch of glaze because the recipe made more than 50 cookies.

You can see some red icing still dripped off the sides, but if I hadn't outlined the cookies the glaze would be all over the counter instead of the cookies.

Use royal icing for the dots and the words.

  

I love glitter!

SALE ALERT: Star Wars Cookie Cutters and Pancake Molds

If you've been eyeballing the Star Wars cookie cutters, pancake molds, and lunch box with sandwich cutters at the Williams Sonoma stores but never bought them because the prices were too steep, well your day has come.  Go to www.williams-sonoma.com they have Star Wars cookie cutters and Pancake Molds off by 50-66% and it's free shipping to boot until July 17th!  Just do a search for Star Wars or look under the sale tab.

I think once these items are gone they are not restocking so do hurry.

I bought these cookie cutters last year. I want to show you that the impression stays after baking so it's easier to decorate.