Cookies

Hibiscus-Vanilla Bean Shortbread

Heart Shaped Shortbread
By jgreghenry Published February 1, 2012
Prep time: 120
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 1 c unsalted butter at room temperature

  • 0.5 c plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 0.5 t kosher salt
  • 2 T dried hibiscus petals
  • 0.5 t vanilla extract
  • 0.25 vanilla bean, scraped

  • 2 c cups all-purpose flour
  • 0.25 c raw demerara sugar (if choosing the log option)
  • 1 egg white mixed with one tablespoon water for wash (optional)

Directions

In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and salt and cream a bit further, just until combined.


Using a mortar and pestle, grind the dried hibiscus into a rough, not too uniform powder. Mix it in to the butter mixture followed by, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds, each seperately. At a low speed, mix in the flour until the dough is uniform. It will be quite crumbly. Wrap the dough as a flat disc and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.



Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thick between two pieces of parchment. Move to a large, flat tray. Alternatively, roll the dough into a 1 1/2 to 2-inch log and roll the log in demerara sugar, wrap the log in plastic wrap. Freeze the rolled out dough on the tray or wrapped log for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325ºF.

Remove the dough from the freezer and peel off the top layer of parchment. Cut into desired shapes using cookie 1 to 2-inch cutters such (stars for the Holidays, hearts for Valentines day etc).  Or slice the demerara crusted log into 1/2-inch slices. While still frozen, space the cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about 1/2 an inch of space between cookies. Lightly brush the cookies with the well-mixed egg wash for a shiny look, optional.

Bake the cookies for 15 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets and bake the cookies for an additional 8 to 12 minutes, until evenly golden brown.

Notes:

Dried hibiscus can be found in some Latin and Asian specialty markets. Dried rose petals (or hibiscus) from your own garden could be substituted.

Source: Adapted from Peels Restaurant & Bakery NYC

It's No Sin To Steal a Cinnamon Snap Cookie Every Now & Then

15 Dec 2011
cinnamon cookies

It's Christmas cookie time. A time that makes everyone smile, right? But you know what? I am not a big fan of making cookies. So fussy and repetitive. Especially when decoration is required. Sticky icing used to glue on sparkly candies that under non-holiday circumstances I would never eat. Which is why I like these Cinnamon Snap Cookies. Simple to make but so full of holiday spirit.

In fact I was invited to a blogger Christmas cookie exchange. Full of bloggers I love and bloggers I know are great cooks. But I showed up empty handed. No cookies from me. I had intended to make these cookies. But I didn't. I felt a little bad. But I was busy. Busy reading blogs...

I read all kinds of blogs, and it takes up all kinds of time. Time I could (better??) spend wrapping ribbons around cookies, right? Instead I read blogs with great photos. I read blogs that make me laugh. I read blogs from people I like, and I read the train wreck blogs too. In fact those are some of my favorites!

Sippity Sup Continues »
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Not Completely my Own. Pine Nut & Rosemary Cookies with Olive OIl

13 Nov 2011
Pinenut & Rosemary Cookies with Olive OIl

I am trying to push myself in the baking department. I try and write my own recipes most of the time. But when it comes to baking I am still solidly "an adapter". I mean recipe adapter. Which may sound a bit like a confession and maybe it is.

You see, I'm at the International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC) in Santa Monica, California this weekend. It's one of those meet, greet, sit, talk and eat events I do quite a bit of. There are always opportunities to learn and grow our blogs at these things too. One of the directions I would like to grow is in recipe writing. So I sat in on a panel discussion of the subject with Dianne Jacob, Amelia Saltsman, and Martha Holmberg.They're pros, they write cookbooks.

But I couldn't help feeling that the way they look at recipe development for print, and the mission of so many of us who share recipes and a passion for food online, may be radically different. I mean, intellectually I know their point is correct. If it's not original to me and my blog, does it have value? But I wonder, can't I share something by merely passing along a recipe I've had success with? Or do I need to bring the same level of print journalism standards to every morsel and tidbit I present on these pages? I don't know. I suspect not.

Sippity Sup Continues »
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Pine Nut Cookies with Rosemary & Olive Oil

Pine Nut Rosemary Cookies
By jgreghenry Published October 29, 2011
Prep time: 30
Yield:1 (dozen)

Ingredients:

  • 4 t coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 0.25 c pine nuts, toasted, plus more for topping cookies
  • 2.25 c all-purpose flour
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 0.5 t ground ginger
  • 1 pn kosher salt
  • 10 T unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 c plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 T sour cream
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 T turbinado (raw) sugar, or to taste, for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Finely chop rosemary in a food processor. Add pine nuts; pulse until coarsely ground, but not yet pasty. Transfer to a large bowl.

Whisk in 2 cups flour, the baking soda, ginger, and salt; set aside. Put butter and granulated sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in oil. Reduce speed to low. Mix in flour mixture. Turn off machine. Remove bowl and stir in sour cream and egg; add the remaining 1/4 cup flour mixing by hand until well combined.

Using a small ice cream scoop form dough into 1-inch balls, and space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with bottom of a wet glass, and top each with a pine nut. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar to taste.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, about 18 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on sheets on wire racks. Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 3 days.

Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Macerated Oranges with Balsamic-Meringue & Caramel- Not Masticated

21 Sep 2011
White Balsamic Orange Slices with Meringue Cookies

Tell me if you think I am getting too piss elegant. Macerated Oranges with White Balsamic-Meringue & Caramel. I hope you think it’s fabulous. But you see fabulous should never be pretentious. It should walk right up to the line and spit on it. But it should never cross the line.

At least not on a blog– unless you have a piss elegant blog, in which case ignore everything I just said.

Seriously though, fancy is in the eyes of the beholder right? How many dishes have I presented here only to watch them sputter off and sink to the bottom of the blogoshere completely unloved? Well plenty let me tell you. Cakes with brandy, cookies with seeds, or vinegar for dessert. Stinkers all. Sound buzzer end of game. 

Now I think I am a pretty good cook with pretty good instincts. But once the meal ends I just can’t get it right. I intended these orange slices with meringue cookies (made sweetly complex with white balsamic vinegar) to be a birthday dessert for a woman in her forties. I thought I was showing my love by thinking outside the cake box and presenting something special and far from mundane. But you should have seen the crest fallen looks I got when I discussed my menu with some of the guests. When it comes to dessert it seems I miss the mark more than I hit it. As my mother would say I gotta learn to lift the lid and aim better. Talk about piss elegant!

Sippity Sup Continues »
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