Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Nutella
Nutella lovers around the world, it’s time to celebrate World Nutella Day! The brainchild of Sara Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso, World Nutella Day started in 2007 and gave fans of the delicious chocolate hazelnut concoction a chance to share their devotion in whatever form seemed fit, whether spread on toast, crepes, rice crispy treats, put it in a king cake, or just licked off a spoon (my personal favorite). Read more
Gingerbread Christmas Tree
Making gingerbread houses is a father-son event in our home, with the boys crowded around the table as Michael assembles the house, a task that is not always easy. Some years the walls fall over and we’ve even resorted to using a glue gun to make the walls stand up. Each boy has a mini muffin tin filled with little candies in each cup that they put on the house. Some years the boys cooperate and the effort is pretty organized, but certainly not every year. Someone usually bumps into the house or spills the candy decorations or sticks their fingers where they don’t belong, but in the end that’s all part of the fun. Read more
Coconut-Orange Snowballs
Last year a small group of bakers joined together to do a The 12 Days of Cookies extravaganza using recipes from a Gourmet magazine feature of their favorite cookies from 1941 to 2008. This year a few more people have joined us and today is the first day of 12 Days of Cookies 2009. Each baker chooses 12 cookies to make but doesn’t tell anyone else what they chose, so it’s a fun little surprise for us to see what everyone else made. Due to family obligations I cannot participate on all 12 days this year but I wanted to join in for at least one day and try some of the cookies, and if I can sneak it in I might be able to do one or two more hopefully.
This year the cookies all come from a Bon Appétit feature about holiday cookies that had us ooing and aahing. While several of the cookies caught my eye, these simple snowball butter cookies with toasted coconut and orange zest were my biggest temptation. They are very simple to make, just toast the coconut, mix the ingredients, chill the dough, roll into balls, and bake. I baked them after the boys had gone to bed so they were surprised to find them in the kitchen the next morning. Top Gun repeatedly asked me about those cookies; he just couldn’t stand to wait until after school.
The flavors seem to balance each other pretty well, though I don’t notice the orange as much as the coconut. These could easily become dry, so I stopped them one minute short of full baking time, and the texture was slightly crumbly, just right. Michael dove into them after dinner and kept eating them while saying, “Wow.” We would definitely make these again.
Be sure to visit all the members of the cookie clan to see what cookies they chose as well as the Bon Appétit website to see all the cookie recipes.
The Rest of the Cookie Baking Clan
Kelly of Sass & Veracity
Courtney of Coco Cooks
Judy of No Fear Entertaining
Sandy of The Baker’s Bench
Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen (Thanks for making our logo!)
Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook
Michelle of Big Black Dog
RJ of Flamingo Musings
Tiffany of The Nesting Project
COCONUT-ORANGE SNOWBALLS
Adapted from Bon Appétit, December 2003.
Makes about 40 cookies.
Equipment
2 large baking sheets
parchment paper
stand mixer with paddle attachment (or hand mixer and large bowl)
wire cooling rack
Ingredients
1-1/4 cups (111 g) sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup (2 sticks/226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2-1/4 cups (293 g) sifted powdered sugar, divided (sifted, then measured)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon coconut extract
2-1/4 cups (270 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350° F/175° C. Toast the coconut on a rimmed baking sheet until light golden, stirring occasionally, about 10 to 12 minutes.
2. In the bowl of the stand mixer beat the butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and both extracts to blend well. Beat in flour, orange peel, and salt. Stir in toasted coconut. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. Soften dough slightly before shaping.
3. Preheat oven to 350° F/175° C. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Using 1 level tablespoon dough for each cookie, roll dough between palms of hands into balls. Place on prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake until golden on bottom but pale on top, about 16 to 18 minutes. The trick is to make sure they don’t dry out, so don’t let them overcook. Transfer cookies to racks and cool 5 minutes.
5. Place remaining 1-3/4 cups powdered sugar in a bowl. Roll hot cookies in powdered sugar, covering completely. Cool cookies on rack. Roll cookies in powdered sugar again, coating generously. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature.)
More Christmas Cookies
See all the cookies from The 12 Days of Cookies.
The Daring Bakers Make Milan Cookies
The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.
The Daring Bakers have made all sorts of challenging desserts, some before my time and some since I joined two years ago. I’ll never forget my first, the Strawberry Mirror Cake, which challenged both my skills and patience; or last year’s Filbert Gateau, which tasted fabulous but took me 15 hours to make; or the Opera Cake and the weeks I spent planning and practicing for it. Yes, we have done our share of difficult challenges. This month the challenge was easier though no less enjoyable, and actually it couldn’t have come at a better time as I need a little breathing room until summer vacation time is over and the kids are back in school. Read more
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars with Chocolate Chips
I first made these oatmeal peanut butter bars about six years ago, and they were an instant hit at home and at parties and picnics. The rich flavor belies their simplicity—an oatmeal peanut butter cookie crust with chocolate chips sprinkled on top then drizzled with peanut butter glaze—and they always garner “ohs” and “ahs” when served to peanut butter and chocolate lovers. Because I’m trying to switch over to whole grains in all our baking, I’ve swapped out the all-purpose flour for whole wheat pastry flour, but you can use unbleached all-purpose flour if you cannot find whole wheat pastry flour in your area.
The dough is pretty sticky and will even cling to silicone spatulas, so I just wet my hands and press the dough into the pan with my fingers, and it doesn’t stick to me. Read more
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
After the cookie marathon in December, I begged off from making anything sweet for a while. Like many, we just needed a sugar break and I admit I didn’t even want to make my birthday cake. I’d had my fill of sweets and didn’t miss it. Usually I’ll make one sweet dessert a week that we enjoy on the weekend, but that’s it for us, so Michael was quite surprised when he came home from work and found these on the counter.
One of my life hacks for this year is to incorporate more whole grains into our desserts and I’ve been going through my cookbooks again looking for ideas on how to do that best. Due to the way whole wheat flour absorbs liquid, it’s not always a 1:1 swap for unbleached all-purpose flour, so I decided to start with some tested recipes and then go back to some of our favorites and hack them.
This recipe from King Arthur Flour is easy to make and doesn’t use any white flour at all. Because oatmeal cookies tend to be more hearty and substantial anyway, I think these are a good way to introduce whole grains in desserts if you aren’t used to it. The butter and sugar still keep these firmly in the occasional treats category, but they are more healthy than a white flour version. Other dried fruits will work well, too, and I look forward to trying them with dried cherries and apricots. Read more
