Gingerbread Skeletons

Happy (almost) Halloween!!

To me, it's Halloween because we're having a party tonight! Woot!

I went a little decorating crazy this week....you will see what I mean the next time I post. But these boys were a last minute addition. Aren't they cute? And such a great idea!

My gingerbread man cookie cutter is on the small side, so it took me awhile to perfect the skeleton on the cookies, especially since I didn't have a tip any smaller than #4! I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out, though! And the cookie isn't bad either! Soft and chewy but still firm enough for decorations!

Gingerbread Skeletons
Epicurious

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
Royal icing

In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter together. Add molasses and water.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, ginger and allspice. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet and blend until the dough holds together.

Cover and chill for 2-3 hours (I chilled it overnight).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface.

Cut shapes with cookie cutters and transfer to cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Decorate with white royal icing.

Chocolate m&m Cookies

Oh yeah. I have a blog.

Its been too long since I've last posted! And it's almost Halloween! Eeek!

In my defense, Candide closed! So there had to be appropriate celebrations. And I've been getting ready for our Halloween party we're throwing on Friday! Woot! So get yourself ready, seat belt on, for a bunch of spooky recipes for the next week or so!

To start, may I offer some Chocolate M&M Cookies?

Funny story: So M&M, or the Mars company I believe, thought it would be brilliant to package their "Halloween M&Ms" with black (duh), orange (obviously), green (get out of town) and purple (are you nuts?!). So, brainchild that I am, I got 3 packages of M&Ms for this recipe and proceeded to pick out all the purple and green M&Ms. Why, might you ask, did I not just walk over to the M&M store across the street and pick out the colors I wanted? Because, I say, I would have paid around $20, whereas at Duane Reade I paid a good $5. Brilliant.

These cookies were first to be finished for the festivities this weekend. They turned out great! One trick I learned from the original blogger was to save some of the M&M's and press three into the top of the cookie after you roll it into a ball and press it down a bit. These little buggers are very chocolaty and look great with orange and black M&Ms. Mwahahahaha!

In other news, my camera is on a downward spiral. He (yeah, he's a male) doesn't want to focus on anything when I take pictures. Poor little guy. He had a good run of it though, I've had him since freshman year in college.

Chocolate M&M Cookies
Beantown Baker

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cup M&M candies

Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.

Beat butter, sugars and vanilla in large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Gradually beat in flour mixture in two or three additions. Stir in M&Ms with a wooden spoon.

(I refrigerated my dough here for about 24 hours.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pick up a large tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten slighty with your hand and place three M&Ms on the top. Place on greased cookie sheet. Repeat with all dough. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 1-2 minutes and then transfer to wire cooling rack.

Spider Web Cookies

AWWWW! Look at these little wittle cutie patootie guys! I just wanna musha wusha their cheekie weekies!

Ok. I'm done. In case you were worried, that is how I usually talk to puppy dogs I meet on the street. NEVER to children or babies. Just setting the record straight.

ANYWAYS...I am so excited about these cookies! Aren't they just adorable! I finally got some meringue powder so I could make good royal icing and it turned out just swimmingly. I was able to use the same consistency for both outlining and filling, which was nice. I should have let them dry a full 24 hours but I couldn't resist showing them around today!
I already posted the cookie recipe, but below is the royal icing recipe, from Sweetopia who has an excellent tutorial on decorating cookies here. If you are having trouble finding meringue powder, you can buy it on amazon.com or specialty baking sites.
Royal Icing
Sweetopia.net

3/4 cup warm water
5 tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2.25 lbs. powdered sugar

*If your meringue powder has no flavoring, add one teaspoon of clear vanilla.

In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and meringue powder. Mix with whisk by hand until frothy and thickened, about 30 seconds.

Add the cream of tartar and mix 30 more seconds.

Pour in all the icing sugar at once and place the bowl on the mixer.

Using the paddle attachment on the lowest speed, mix slowly for 10 minutes. Icing will get thick and creamy.

Tint with desired food coloring.

Chocolate Cut Out Cookies

I have plans for these cookies. Yes, the plans involve decorating. But for now, they are just delicious cookies chillin' in the freezer. I am sure they are anticipating the gorgeousness that is sure to befall them!

These cookies lived up to their name on Allrecipes.com: Best Ever Chocolate Cutout Cookies. They rolled out really well, didn't expand too much in the oven. And best of all, they have a great non-overpowering chocolate flavor. I will definitely keep you posted on the decorating. But for now, have an excellent chocolate cookie that stands well on its own!

Chocolate Cutout Cookies
Allrecipes.com

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. Gradually stir int he sifted ingredients to form a soft dough. Divide dough into 2 pieces, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Dough is sticky so be sure to add more flour to the surface as needed. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones

Weekend two of Candide down...one more to go! Whoopie!

What better way to get myself through another weekend at the theater than Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones?! I really can't think of one (obviously, or else I would have made it)!

Confession: I went to the grocery store last week and, upon seeing a fully stocked shelf of pumpkin puree, I bought 4 cans of the stuff! What?! They are just hanging out in my pantry just waiting to be made into deliciousness! Obsessed? Never.

These scones were brilliant. Great pumpkin flavor without being overwhelming. I added mini chocolate chips, which were a great choice because they didn't detract from the pumpkin, but added that bit of sweetness!


Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones
Adashofsass.com

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fat free milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, grated
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non stick cooking spray.

Stir together the pumpkin, milk, vanilla and one egg until combined. Place bowl in refrigerator until ready to be used.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Stir in the spices.

Using your fingers (or a pastry cutter if you have one), work the grated butter into the dry ingredients until it becomes a crumbly, sandy mixture.

Add the cold, wet ingredients to the mixture and stir until combined.

Add the mini chocolate chips and mix until just combined. Gather the dough into a round ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Lightly press down on dough to make a disc. Using a knife, cut into 8 triangles (like a pizza). Place on baking sheet.

In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg. Brush onto each scone and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 17 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.