052810 Ne Plus Ultra Cookies

This recipe was easy and quick to make.......great when you're pressed for time. Additionally, the ingredients are pretty basic and are "staples" to any devout baker. Unlike drop cookies, one rolls the dough into 2.25" balls which look huge before you press them down into 1" thick. As you make the cookie balls, keep in mind that the recipe yields only 1 dozen...so be generous when you roll the dough into 2+ inches. Believe it or not they bake all the way through. The recipe definitely satisfies the sweet tooth with the chocolate chips, raisins and pecans....good cookies to take hiking since they're firm! Gotta luv um!!!

052310 Buttery Pecan Rounds

These simple cookies were surprisingly yummy! Considering the small amout of ingredients, the butter and pecans delightfully filled the kitchen with such a sweet, buttery aroma. My mother-in-law and I kept an eye on the oven just waiting for those cookies to tan a bit, and soon to be sampled...with coffee, of course! The cookies were well worth the 14 minutes.. I would recommend an extra minute to give the fragile delicacies a little more "strength", otherwise they tend to crumble on the way to your mouth. The recipe claims to yield 3 dozen but I only finished with 2 - and I did use the 1.24" ice cream scooper as called out in the recipe. Overall, the cookies were enjoyable and the perfect afternoon treat!!

051610 Citrus Cornmeal Cookies

Definitely an adult cookie - simple and begging for coffee or tea. Akin to a biscuit, with the cornmeal giving just the right amount of crunch/grit. It took a couple of cookies before my taste buds figured it needing a little bit more sweetness. So, I ended up spreading on just a little bit of lemon icing made from confection sugar and lemon juice. Not too much, not too little, and.... not too bad. I don't think Martha would have mind the embelishment - I did keep some of the original recipe mixed with the iced ones. The recipe was easy to follow and nice to prepare ahead of time, especially if you're having girlfriends over for a spot of tea.....slice it up and pop them in the oven!!

051010 Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Well, this was a sad baking day....I was so looking forward to the peanut butter and jelly bars but they just didn't turn out right. A bit on the dry side which tells me that I should have added a little more jelly. I used apricot preserves as opposed to the recommended strawberry jam, but I don't think that was the problem here. I opted out the peanuts to soften up the cookie nibbles...it probably would have been drier if I had added the 1c of salted peanuts. The picture in the book looks like it's oozing with jelly, whereas mine was hardly noticeable. Lastly, my husband thought the cookies had an "odd" taste....I agree but can't put my finger on the flavor??? The cookies are soft and remain that way even after they've been refrigerated, as recommended. Well, I'll make notes in the recipe book and move on to cookie recipe # 4.

050110 Lemon Tassies

This week I thought I would try the Lemon Tassies found on pg 292. Knowing that I was in need of some mini-muffin tins, my sweet mom picked me up a couple of pans from Joanne's Fabrics using her 40% off coupon - what a deal!.....thanks Mom!
I have to say, the crusts were a bit tedious to make and I ended using an old, wooden meat tenderizer to push/mold the crust into the mini-tins (the meat tenderizer was the perfect diameter...actually, I borrowed it from mom). Also, I had to make another batch of the lemon filling in order to fill all 48 crusts. I don't believe I overfilled the crusts because the tassies came out looking just like the picture in the book (?). Lastly, the tassies have to be cooled in the pan for10-15 minutes. I just didn't feel like keeping the oven idle at 350deg for so long, so I baked half the recipe on Saturday and the remaining tassies were baked on Sunday. Surprisingly, the tassies removed from the tins with no problem/breakage!
They were enjoyed by friends and family, particularly by my sister and niece who were in town this weekend for my Mom's birthday. Which brings up another baking item worth mentioning here - I dared myself to make my Mom's birthday cake and I chose an Italian Cassata cream cake. What a disaster and a bad time to try a new, complicated recipe. But, that's another blog all together.
Overall, the Lemon Tassies were enjoyable and I hope to master the mini-muffin tin crusts before the end of this cookie adventure!!