Mismatchérie » cookies

A Time to Bake

Anjelica — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:00:59 +0000

I found this super affordable print on Etsy from Articipe — a clever artist making fun typography-based art out of simple recipes. You can snag a copy of a classic, like the above oatmeal cookie ingredient list, or commission a personalized print of your granny’s legendary dish. Holiday gifts, anyone?

Speaking of the holidays and delicious baked goods, I’ve been inspiration-gathering for a cookie swap that’s coming up next week! I’m sure all our bases will be covered for the classics, so I thought it might be fun to find other festive cookies to share. A bit non-traditional, but snowflake designs and crushed candy cane bits shouldn’t be a pre-req for holiday cheer!

Some of these guys look pretty time consuming, but the artist in me is tempted to take a stab at the chevron print beauties…

Clockwise from top left:

Lemon poppy seed cookies via With Sprinkles on Top
Chevron print cookies featured on Sweet Sugar Belle
Peppermint pinwheel shortbread cookies from Food Network
Almond butter blackberry jam thumbprint cookies on Poppytalk by Lyndsay of Coco Cakes
Crisp sugar doily cookies from Martha Stewart
Glittering sandwich cookies via the Purl Bee
Quartrefoile iced sugar cookies by Bee in Our Bonnet
Herb de provence orange butter cookies by Luna Cafe
S’mores cookie bars from Baked Perfection

Junk Food

Anjelica — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

This odd little illustration by Jared Stumpenhorst, originally dreamed up as a t-shirt design for Woot, caught my eye mostly because of the interesting selection of snacks. I’ve seen the burger/fries combo on t-shirts, the cupcakes and candy combo, even a family of fruits with faces–but I’d yet to come across such a fine sampling of junk food.

The nervous smiles on their faces make me wonder, are they self-conscious about the way some might look down on them? Or are they about to get eaten by someone more like me?

Let’s face it, these snacks may not be the best for your diet, but there are some benefits to cooking them in your own kitchen. Healthy recipes and fresh ingredients can take out a lot of the yuck-factor from these usually mass-produced treats. Alternatively, making a conscious decision to buy all-natural alternatives to your old favorites can help satisfy a craving without doing any real damage. Everything in moderation, right? Ahh, junk food..

Clockwise from top left:
Really simple homemade pizza from (one of my favorites!) Smitten Kitchen
Copycat Oreo cookie recipe by Cupcake Project
Soft pretzel recipe from Cooking Light via My Recipes
Healthy microwave potato chips from Fat Free Vegan
100% natural GuS (Grown-up soda) available in a variety of flavors
Fried chicken photo from Sweet Tea with Lemon , recipe by Alton Brown
Homemade peanut butter cups from Genesis of a Cook
Glazed donut holes recipe by Diana’s Desserts
Greek lamb burgers with spinach, red onion and Feta from Bon Appétit
Fresh fruit roll-ups recipe by Sugarlaws

DIY: Jam Cookies

Anjelica — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:44:00 +0000

I have a thing for packaging, and these vintage Polish jam labels from pan tu nie stal (via Made In England) caught my eye. The bold colors and cute, simple graphics on were likely a fitting match for their original contents.

More importantly, coming across these labels reminded me that I had a couple of jars of jam in my kitchen just waiting to be eaten! What better way to use up different flavors of jam than to bake these guys? Definitely one of my favorite types of cookies, especially when you don’t skimp on the fruity preserves.

I followed this Jam Thumbprint Cookie recipe by Ina Garten, and it was surprisingly easy! I do bake often, but this was an exceptionally successful batch of cookies. Delicious, too!

Ingredients

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I did 3/4 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Raspberry and/or apricot jam (I did both, plus strawberry)

1. Toss all of that decadent butter into your mixer! Cream together with one cup of sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Measure out your extracts! I incorporated a bit of almond extract because I just can’t get enough of it in my baking. Add these into your butter and sugar.

3. Add flour and salt slowly but surely, at a low speed. No need to create flour clouds in your kitchen.

4. Mix until a moist dough forms. This happened pretty quickly for me, and the dough was a perfect consistency. Wonder if it was those 3 sticks of butter…?

5. Shape your dough into a nice flat disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

6. In the meantime, beat together one egg with one tablespoon water to create an egg wash. Spread some of the coconut out on a plate for easy rolling access.

7. Once the dough is chilled, unwrap and begin rolling into 1 1/4″ balls. I was able to get 30 cookies out of my dough–not too shabby!

8. Dip the dough balls into your egg wash, then roll on plate to lightly coat with coconut. I found that one bag of coconut was just enough to cover them all.

9. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

9. Use your thumb or the back of a spoon to make indentations in your cookies. You could make them shallow or deep–I preferred to make them a bit deep to hold more jam.

10. Step back and admire your work. Place your cookie sheets in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until coconut begins to turn golden brown. After 25 minutes, my coconut still wasn’t completely toasted, but I didn’t want to risk overcooking them. I removed them and they turned out just fine.

Ta-da!

Strawberry, raspberry and apricot jam in amazing little buttery cookies. I’m really glad this recipe yields just over 2 dozen. Plenty to share and plenty to eat all by myself!