'Tis the season for baking mass quantities, so I figured I'd make a thread for everyone to share what they're making.
I started my personal cookiepocalypse with some oatmeal shortbread cookies:
'Tis the season for baking mass quantities, so I figured I'd make a thread for everyone to share what they're making.
I started my personal cookiepocalypse with some oatmeal shortbread cookies:
No matter how many cookies we make, we rarely have enough by Christmas Eve.
We always make sure to set aside cookies for Santa, however.
We get together with about half my family for the 24th / 25th. It's about 12-15 people depending on who shows up.
We used to make something like 6-7 different cookie varieties; maybe 4-5 dozen of each.
The last few years we've had a lot of leftovers. This year I think we're going to pare it back a little:
DW is also making a pumpkin pie, and I kind of have the urge to make a lemon meringue pie, so I will probably make that.
I'm cheating this year. I've been mixing up cookies for 2 weeks now, portioning them into balls, then freezing them. Because I always go overboard and everything is either eaten or stale by Xmas, so in theory, I should just be able to pull out and bake on demand.
Thanks to Curtis, I'm going to be making butter tarts.
And probably tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, because you cannot improve on perfection.
When I made the oatmeal cookies the other night I also made dough for gingerbread cookies and left it chilling in the fridge. I'll probably bake those up as tonight's project.
I might make some plain old chocolate chip cookies.
I don't have it in me to make some bourbon balls.
Keith Tanner said:And probably tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, because you cannot improve on perfection.
Actually, you can. Our chocolate chip cookie recipe is better. I'll see if I can find it.
If you make your Toll House cookies, do one extra thing: let the dough sit in the fridge for 24 hours before portioning and baking.
Duke said:Keith Tanner said:And probably tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, because you cannot improve on perfection.
Actually, you can. Our chocolate chip cookie recipe is better. I'll see if I can find it.
If you make your Toll House cookies, do one extra thing: let the dough sit in the fridge for 24 hours before portioning and baking.
Room temperature butter and overnight chilling are required for a proper tollhouse cookie. Although I have experienced significant shrinkage of the dough while it sits in the fridge, often with the help of a spoon :)
You're going to have to back up your claims with that recipe.
I am not a fan of Tollhouse or any of the store-bought self-bake cookies. They have been banned from my house. No cookie is better than a bad cookie. There is nothing worse than the letdown of an inferior cookie after smelling them bake.
I only know of 4 people in this world who can make outstanding chocolate chip cookies. My mother, my sister, my daughter, and my youngest son. They are crispy, chewy, crumbly, and wonderful, both hot out of the oven and days later. All others and anything store-bought are so far down the list they might as well be animal food or come out of a bag.
There is a knack to it that isn't easily duplicated even with the recipe right in front of you. My wife can't make them worth a damn. Neither can I.
Now I need to call Mom and remind her to bake a batch of cookies for next weekend.
There are some bold claims in this thread.
Please return and post recipes so I can research them further. Thank you.
In reply to Toyman! :
Check your private messages, or shoot me an email esseeno at g mail. I'll be happy to send you down some of mine
To the general thread.
Banana bread chocolate chip is where it's at. They've quickly become more popular than my regular recipe, which was also not tollhouse.
In reply to RevRico :
Done and done.
Bananas bread chocolate chip cookies
I will be releasing ALL of my personal recipes over the next year, every single one. Details will be shared when the time comes, think of it more of a heads up for now.
In reply to mtn :
It's on the back of the Nestles chocolate chip package, no need to hunt very far :)
Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies adapted from Chef Rick Martinez's Oatmeal Shortbread Wreaths recipe:
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
Pulse the oats in a food processor until finely ground.
Add the flour, brown sugar and salt and pulse. Add the butter and egg yolk and process until the dough comes together and no streaks of butter remain.
Divide the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pat into disks; wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees °F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Let the dough sit at room temperature about 5 minutes to soften slightly.
Working with one piece at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper until 1/4 inch thick; dust with more flour. (If the dough becomes too soft, refrigerate 15 minutes.) Cut out cookies with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter (preferably fluted), then cut out the centers with a 3 / 4-inch round cutter.
Arrange the wreaths 1 inch apart on the prepared pans. Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies.
Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are dry and firm on top and golden brown around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes.
Let cool 5 minutes on the pans.
Lightly brush the tops with the maple syrup, then immediately sprinkle with sprinkles and/or sanding sugar. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
I like to make habanero sugar cookies.
Sometimes I mix in other peppers depending on who will be eating them. Putting in some jalapeno peppers gives it a nice little green to mix with the orange habaneros to give it that Christmas look and a little less spice.
Ghost peppers or reapers tend to cut down sharply on who will eat them depending on how many you put in.
In reply to Toyman! :
Tollhouse cookies can be scratch made. It doesn't have to be the slice-n-bake sausage stuff.
The gingerbread recipe I use is the gingerbread house recipe from the Joy of Cooking cookbook, but of course every edition tweaks its recipe slightly. This is the closest one to mine that I could find online. Instead of making a house with the dough, roll it out to about 1/4 in thick and cut with your desired cookie cutters. Top the cookies with a lemon glaze and sprinkles while still hot.
Duke said:In reply to Toyman! :
Tollhouse cookies can be scratch made. It doesn't have to be the slice-n-bake sausage stuff.
Naturally, I was assuming made from scratch.
My great grandfather was a depression era baker. I don't know if he created this recipe himself, or merely learned it, but it became our 'family recipe' holiday cutout cookies that the whole family has made every year for at least as far back as my dad can remember.
I'm not quite sure how to describe them. I guess they're kind of a cakey-sugar cookie. I've never had a cookie quite like them in taste or texture, nor found a similar recipe. Cake flour, powdered sugar, eggs, shortening, milk, salt, vanilla, and baking ammonia. Once cooled, they are dipped in a simple glaze and decorated (heavily by the kids) with sprinkles.
I won't post the recipe, but will share it via PM if anybody is brave enough to try baking with ammonia.
I also want to make some divinity this year, to really complete the family holiday tradition.
Duke said:In reply to Toyman! :
Tollhouse cookies can be scratch made. It doesn't have to be the slice-n-bake sausage stuff.
That's a different story. Their recipe is pretty good if done correctly. I retract my previous statement.
The sausage tube cookies are not what I would call good.
Duke said:Keith Tanner said:And probably tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, because you cannot improve on perfection.
Actually, you can. Our chocolate chip cookie recipe is better. I'll see if I can find it.
If you make your Toll House cookies, do one extra thing: let the dough sit in the fridge for 24 hours before portioning and baking.
THE way to do chocolate chips. There is no equal nor substitute.
WonkoTheSane said:Duke said:Keith Tanner said:And probably tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, because you cannot improve on perfection.
Actually, you can. Our chocolate chip cookie recipe is better. I'll see if I can find it.
If you make your Toll House cookies, do one extra thing: let the dough sit in the fridge for 24 hours before portioning and baking.
THE way to do chocolate chips. There is no equal nor substitute.
That looks like a good start. Bread flour is a twist. I tend to use vanilla instead of extract, but that's a personal preference that tends to span across most recipes.
There is some tasty experimentation in my future.
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