TWD : Chocolate Chunk Muffins and trying to catch up

Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles chose Chocolate Chunk Muffins this week and certainly I'm not entitled to tell you why these are muffins and not cupcakes but from my experience they are great to bring out a smile from anyone.

I brought Them at the last wu-shu class of my childen and were a success.

I doubled the amount of chocolate, melted and in chunks, and followed the recipe otherwise. Please visit Bridget for the recipe and the TWD site for more muffins.

Now I must apologize with you my TWDers friends for being so bad in posting lately I wasn't so busy not to bake but didn't blog about it.

Let me introduce to you the main cause of my work overload, a Pontifical Zuave (1865) which is a strange thing to work on in this year where we italians celebrate the 150 anniversary of our Country due to the defeat of the Pontificial State.

And for the sweet part here we go with the past week's baking, Please visit the hosts for the recipes.

Spike of Spike Bakes chose Sour Cream Chocolate Cake Cookies I made them with dried cherries instead of raisins and made them a them 1 inch in diameter knowing they would spread. Yummy ! Especially for Anita.

Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet chose Date-Nut Loaf and was this loaf super delicious ! I really wish I had some now but ....

Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes chose Chocolate Biscotti which I baked along with the next recipe for a kid's party and were gone quite SUBITO !

Cindy of Everyday Insanity chose Blueberry-Brown Sugar Plain Cake I used a frozen berry mix and these babies where a joy to eat.

Peggy from Peggy the Baker chose Caramel Pots de Creme, I had never thought of mixing the caramel in the cream as we usually just pour it in the mold; the results were very greedily welcomed.

Patricia from Life With a Whisk chose Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones even if so many days have passed I remember how I liked the nice crunch they had.

TWD : Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies

I was hoping to win the Spreader title at the (sad) end of our Tuesday with Dorie Mission, but with these soo good shortbread cookies chosen by Valerie I' m afraid I won't be alone. I was blaming Italian butter, cookies not cold enough or just a personal gift I had, but with these babies I was not the only one to get The Spread !

Well, Spread or not I loved them. Crunchy as they were (actually are but I hid them) and with the lime hint Valerie suggested in the P &Q I absolutely loved them !

Please visit Valerie for the recipe and much more and the LYL for more cookies.

TWD : Pecan Powder Puffs

The host of the week is Tianne of Buttercream Barbie she chose these sinful cookies and wil have the recipe here. Please visit all the other bakers .

My dear friends as some of you might know I have a problem with spreading and as you can see me puffs (made with almonds btw) I did it again !

I tried reducing the butter, freezing the dough before shaping and after ..... well anyway even if I'm dieting I tried a tiny crumb and they were heavenly !!!!

You can see the spreading problem but it was not the only problem !

I saved the precious crumbs for a cheese-cake crust what do you think ?

I Heart Cooking Clubs : Arrivederci Giada ! Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

This is the last week we, at I Heart Cooking Clubs, are cooking with Giada.

I didn't know anything about her if not what every italian knows about her grand parents.

And I must confess I was a bit suspicious about her cooking but I was proved wrong as I found most of Giada's recipe very good and interesting.

So to say good-bye and thank-you I chose these wonderful cookies rich with lemon !

I actually do not know why my cookies stayed round instead of looking like Giada's but as my usual problem is Spreading I won't complain !

Here is where I got the recipe.

RECIPE

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cookies:

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

Glaze:

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container.

Moosewood Mondays : Sweet Pumpkin Cookies

Quite some years ago I found a copy of 'Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant' in an english bookshop that sadly doesn't exist anymore and I fell in love with the Moosewood collective, now I own almost all their books and Mollie Katzen's too of course.

I really enjoy reading through them and was surprised when 'Volcano' Natashya started to cook Moosewood's Mondays so I'm finally joining her with one cookie recipe that manages to please all.

RECIPE

(from Moosewood Restaurant New Classic)

Yields about 42 cookies

1 cup butter, room temp (I used rice oil)

1 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin purée

1 egg lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped toasted peanuts (I used almonds)

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix until well blended. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinamon, allspice, and salt, and add to the mixing bowl. Stir well to form a soft batter. Stir in the chopped nuts, raisins and, if you like, the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonsfuls onto a large, unoiled baking sheet (or two smaller ones), allowing a little space for the cookies to spread as they bake. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cookies just begin to brown slightly on the bottom.

I Heart Cooking Clubs : Potluck ! Hazelnuts Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm really enjoying our new chef Giada De Laurentiis and this week decide to try a cookie recipe.

This recipe calls for oats which are good for you and for toffee bars which aren't , so they balance...

We managed to eat all the cookies before morning came and I could take a better picture !

RECIPE

(from Foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 ounces English toffee candy (recommended: Heath or Skor bar), finely chopped
• 1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked, and chopped
• 1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with parchment paper. Finelychop the oats in a food processor. Transfer the oats to a medium bowl. Mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in the toffee, hazelnuts, and chocolate chips.

For each cookie, drop 1 rounded tablespoonful of dough onto sheet, spacing 1-inch apart (do not flatten dough). Bake until the cookies are golden (cookies will flatten slightly), about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. (The cookies can be prepared 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

Daring Baker's Challenge: Decorated Sugar Cookies

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

I must say that with this month's challenge the kids and me had lots of fun. I would have loved to achieve those perfect cookies we could find on the suggested sites but I had to settle for fun and good cookies to eat. We shared them at school and all the kids loved them too and Anita advertised the blog promising the recipe.

Mandy chose a very good recipe, not too sweet and easy to handle. I'm sure I will make more trials hoping to become a better cookie decorator.

You can download a printable pdf of the recipes HERE

RECIPE

Basic Sugar Cookies:
Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
• Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
• Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during
baking, losing their shape.
• Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
• Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoid
flour flying everywhere.
• Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
• Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)
• Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
• Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an
hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and
then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
• Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
• Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.
• Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.
• Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
• Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
• Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
• Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in
some cookies being baked before others are done.
• Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
• Leave to cool on cooling racks.
• Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
• Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated
cookies can last up to a month.

Royal Icing:

315g – 375g / 11oz – 13oz / 2½ - 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
2 Large Egg Whites
10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice
5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Directions

• Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
• Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and
grease free.
• Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
• Tip: I’ve listed 2 amounts of icing sugar, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.
• Beat on low until combined and smooth.
• Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.
• Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.

TWD : Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

This week we baked with Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine and she chose this that in my ideas is an American classic.

When I lived in Santa Barbara I worked in an house where we were so lucky to have Joanne a cook who would bake cookies and fill two cookie jars for all the workers with all kind of cookies but PB cookies were always there !

I must tell you that in Italy we almost never use peanut butter, I was amazed to find out kids eat peanut butter sandwich almost every day .....

But you know what ? My kids loved these cookies !
Not to mention the fun Anita and I had decorating them with chocolate... this is Anita mad at me because she wants to decorate alone.

Please go here for the recipe and visit the Tuesday with Dorie site to find out what we are up to !!

TWD : Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Donna of Life's too short not to eat dessert first (who could not agreee ?) chose these cookies and I was ready for another spread failure when they didn't move ! Almost cutting edges ! (...) I'm so happy I want to try the world peace cookies again !

What I did is diminish the butter from 8 oz to 6 oz and increase the flour a bit, this is because European butter has a higher fat content than American ( 85 % vs.80%). But I didn't go into math and just tried..

In Italy ziplock baggies aren't so common so I just cut out a normal freezer bag and put some tape to the cut end, I loved Dorie's way of rolling and even in the heat wave after two hours in the fridge the dough was ready.

I used decaf soluble coffee because Andrea doesn't drink coffee, but he certainly enjoied these cookies, infact I gave him almost all of them to bring to work (they were TOO good for me) but he admitted he wasn't generous because he liked them a lot !

Please visit Donna for this recipe and go here to check all the cookies (there is even an oatmeal and spice version !)

TWD : Gingered Carrot Cookies

And here comes my pick !

As the first thing I really want to thank Laurie for creating our group and for taking such good care of it, I started noticing it when Bill's Big Carrot Cakes appeared on many blogs and eventually joined the group some time later; then I would like to express my admiration for Dorie Greenspan who wrote this wonderful book really full of all kinds of great recipes for every mood and time, she was able to convince me to try and love coconut and white chocolate in the same dessert and much more ! Furthermore I would love to thank all of you that I now feel like friends for making me so happy for each of your comments on my blog.

During these last wonderful TWD years I had been imagining this post and hoped it would be THE most witful, interesting and so on post but I was too optimistic as usual !

We just came back from the holidays and the house looks like an Halloween location, I had to go for a new job interview (from September I'll be working in the The Vatican Historical Museum ( founded in 1973 and transferred in 1987 to the Papal Apartment in the Lateran Palace, houses a series of papal portraits along with objects of the past Pontifical Military Corps and of the Pontifical Chapel and Family and historic ceremonial objects no longer in use.), and finally got my migraine ! But nonetheless...I'M VERY PROUD OF HOSTING THE GINGERED CARROT COOKIES !!!!

Now I should tell you I chose them because since the very first day it was my dream to bake them but it's not true :... some time ago I had so many carrots from my veggie box that tried them and they were perfect for different reasons : they do NOT spread , do not require strange foods (like chesnuts for you and mysterious candy for me), I missed cookies in TWD, they are easy to make and they are good.

I really hope they met your taste too !

You already know I'm not the best photographer and the cookies are cute but not the best models so I used some special glasses and my latest holidays accomplishment as photographic set ...

RECIPE

Gingered Carrot Cookies

Page 162 - Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch fresly grated nutmeg

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrots (about 3, peeled and trimmed)

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I confess I used unsweetened)

1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

GETTING READY: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchement or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and nutmeg.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes or so, then add the egg and beat for another minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the vanilla. Continuing on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 2 or 3 batches and beat only until they just disappear into the mix. You'll have a very thick dough, and you might be tempted to overbeat it to incorporate flour-don't. Mix in the carrots, coconuts, raisins and pecans.

Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets in heaping tablespoonfuls (I used an ice cream scoop), leaving about an inch of space between them; THESE DON'T SPREAD MUCH.

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be light brown and only just firm on top. Carefully transfer the cookies to racks to cool to room temperature.

This is the lovely view we had in Capalbio (Tuscany)

TWD : Chockablock Cookies

This week Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet chose for us this all in one cookie recipe. When i started the cookies I was on the verge of a terrible migraine so I didn't check my pantry being so sure I had everything. But I didn't . And in spite of puffed rice instead of rolled oats, sunflower and pumpkin seeds instead of walnuts these cookies are (sadly were) amazing !!

(I used almonds and dried cranberries too !).

Thank you Mary !! Please visit Mary for the recipe and the other bakers for more !

TWD : Dulce de Leche Duos in italiano a seguire

This week it was Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake who decided on Dulce de Leche Duos. I expected a kind of alfajores like the ones in the post ( the recipe is fantastic and if you have some dulce de leche leftover I recomend it !) but they were different (they spead but this is not the only difference !) and very lovely too ! ! I decided to put some melted chocolate in the inner sides as Dorie suggests as you can see above and while doing this I forgot some cookies in the oven so they came out very crispy and got an outer chocolate layer ! I decided to give most of the cookies to the kid's teachers for Easter so no going around in my building with cookies for tonight !Please visit Jodie for the recipe and the TWD site for more cookies !

Italiano

Questa settimana è stata Jodie di Beansy Loves Cake a scegliere la ricetta che credevo somigliasse agli alfajores che avevo fatto un po' di tempo fa (tra l'altro se non li avete ancora provati fatelo e vedrete!) e invece erano diversi e comunque molto buoni. Nel libro Dorie suggerisce di sciogliere del cioccolato e di pennellarlo sull'interno dei biscotti prima di farcirli con il dulce de leche : squisiti !

Ricetta

280 gr farina

1/4 di cucchiaino di sale

1 cucchiaino di bicarbonato

225 gr burro

150 gr di zucchero di canna

170 gr do dulce de leche

115 gr zucchero

2 uova grandi

Accendere il forno a 180°.

Setacciare la farina, il bicarbonato e il sale.

Montare il burro, aggiungere il dulce de leche e i due tipi di zucchero e montare per un paio di minuti.

Aggiungere le uova uno per volta e fare amalgamare.

Unire la farina senza mescolare troppo.

Formare dei biscotti sulla placca da forno lasciando parecchia distanza tra uno e l'altro e cuocere per circa 8/10 minuti.

Una volta raffreddati farcirli con il dulce de leche o, come ho fatto io, spennellare prima di farcire con cioccolato fondente fuso.