Tag: cookies

Matcha Shortbread Cookies

An Homage to “The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane”

I just finished reading Lisa See’s new book, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. More accurately, I just finished listening to this wonderful book. I often listen to books while I commute into work, and the narrators of this particular novel are great! Lisa See is a very talented author, and her stories transport me to other times, places and cultures. This particular novel centers around tea and the Akah ethnic minority living in the Yunnan province of China.

After finishing this novel, I was inspired to develop a  cookie using matcha (green tea) powder.

Here you go!

Matcha Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

2 ¾ plus 2 TBS cups all purpose flour (14 ¼ oz)

2 TBS plus 1 tsp matcha powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups unsalted butter (12 oz), room temperature

¾ cup sugar (5 ¼  oz)

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar (4 ¾ oz)

3 TBS lemon juice or as needed

METHOD:

Whisk together the flour, matcha powder and salt, set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar together until combined.

Add the flour mixture slowly.

Divide the dough into 2 parts. Roll each half into a log about 1 ¾  inches wide.

Wrap each log in parchment or wax paper. Chill until firm.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice about 1/3 inch thick. Place on parchment lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart.

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Bake 15-18 minutes until the cookies are set and very slightly golden on the edges.

When cookies are completely cool, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a glaze.

Drizzle on the cookies.

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Yield about 4 dozen.

BAKER’s NOTE: These are very delicately flavored- for a more robust matcha flavor, use up to 3 TBS in the recipe.

 

Chunky Monkey Cookies

One of the more fun cookies I developed at Provisons Bake Shop was what we dubbed  “Chunky Monkey”. It speaks to comfort flavors- peanut butter, chocolate and banana, all delicious on their own but when combined they are definitely more than their individual parts! The high school senior working at the counter couldn’t get enough of them- she’d even come in on her days off to stock up!

CHUNKY MONKEY COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all purpose flour (5 oz)

1/3 cup quick oats (approximately 1 oz)

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar (3 ½ oz)

½ cup brown sugar (3 ½ oz)

½ cup natural peanut butter, preferably fresh ground (4 ½ oz)

1 large egg

½ tsp pure vanilla extract (or banana extract)

1 very ripe banana, mashed

1/3 cup roasted peanuts, chopped (1 ½ oz)

¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips (4 oz)

 

METHOD:

Whisk together flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

Thoroughly cream together the butter, sugars and peanut butter.

Add egg and vanilla. Mix until combined.

Add mashed banana, mix in lightly.

Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Add peanuts and chocolate chips.

Scoop onto parchment lined baking sheets.

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With wet fingertips lightly press down the dough.

Bake 10 minutes, rotate pans. If cookies are puffing up too much, gently bang pans to let out air.

Bake another 5 minutes until firm to the touch.

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Yield 3 dozen cookies using a 1 ½ tablespoon size scoop.

Enjoy!!

 

Sesame Crusted Rye Shortbread Cookies

Sesame Crusted Rye Shortbread Cookies

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I had a wonderful cookie from Tandem Bakery in Portland, Maine. This is my recreation of it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of dark rye flour (9 oz)

½ cups sugar (3 ½ oz)

¼ tsp fine sea salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (8 oz)

1 tsp grated orange zest

TOPPING:

3 TBS sparkling sugar

¼ tsp fine sea salt

2 TBS black sesame seeds

 

METHOD:

Whisk the flour and salt and set aside.

Beat the butter, sugar and orange zest together until combined.

Add the flour and salt, slowly.

Mix until dough comes together.

 

Divide the dough into 2 parts. Roll each half into a log about 1 ½ inches wide.

Wrap each log and chill until firm.

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the sparkling sugar, sea salt and sesame seeds.

When dough is firm, slice about 1/3 inch thick.2A08C585-69CC-4753-934A-4BCDCA4A0111

Place on parchment lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake 16-20 minutes until the cookies are set and firm to the touch. Rotate the pans halfway through baking.

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Yield about 4 dozen.

Bakery Crawl in Portland, Maine

A Nibble Here, A Nibble There, A Little Nibble Everywhere

I’ve mentioned before that I’m very fortunate to have children living in “Foodie” destinations and Portland, Maine is no exception. On a recent visit to see our daughter, Rebecca, we did a Bakery Crawl- how perfect is that! We hit 6 bakeries – all wonderful in their own way. Who knew that in a city of 68,000 we would find so many great places and I’m sure there are more to discover in future visits.

Are you ready to go on the Crawl with me? Let me share with you the highlights!

First stop, right around the corner from Rebecca’s home is The Holy Donut https://theholydonut.com/

They have a great selection of interesting flavors- my personal favorite is the chocolate with sea salt and Rebecca is partial to the gluten free lemon poppy seed.

Next on the list was the Standard Baking Company. http://standardbakingco.com/

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The Standard Baking Company specializes in artisan breads and classic pastries. The baguette has a wonderful crust and I also sampled an apricot almond galette- a rich almond pastry filled with apricot jam- delish!!

Third up was Aurora Provisions ( a name close to my heart) auroraprovisions.com/, a place perfect for a great cup of coffee and a small bite. Try the cinnamon bread puffs- you won’t be sorry!

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It was a great sunny (but cold) day in Portland so we visited the Lighthouse and then hopped a ferry and took a 4 mile walk around Peak’s Island. That made me feel justified in continuing “The Crawl”- wouldn’t you feel the same?

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So, back in town, it was on  to Tandem Coffee and Bakery, http://www.tandemcoffee.com/bakery. Tandem is in a converted garage- so fun to see re-purposed buildings!

We sampled two very interesting flavored classics- a banana bread with black sesame and a shortbread cookie but made with rye flour and also rolled in black sesame seeds. You know something’s special when the flavors remain with you long after you’ve eaten it. So stay tuned for a future post when I recreate the rye shortbread for you.

Four down and the last two to go.

Two Fat Cats Bakery, twofatcatsbakery.com , offers homestyle american cookies, cakes, and pies. They are famous for their Whoopie Pies and rightly so!

 

And finally- a short drive to South Portland brought us to Scratch Baking Company, www.scratchbakingco.com

What a way to end our day…the aromas of freshly baked breads surround you as you walk through the door. Stuffed to the gills we decided to make our purchases and save them for breakfast the next day. The whole wheat sour dough English muffins are simply the best! I’m going to put in a special request to have some brought to me on Rebecca’s next visit home.

So that ended our Bakery Crawl adventure- but I’m so looking forward to returning and sampling more!

 

Cranberry – Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

 It’s snowing outside – perfect time to be in the kitchen and create!!

These cookies are a snap to make and a perfect accompaniment to a nice “cuppa” tea.

My New Year’s resolution is to make sure that you hear from me more regularly- fingers crossed!! 🙂 

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½  cups all purpose flour (7 1/2 oz)

¼  tsp salt

12 TBS unsalted butter (6 oz), room temperature

¼  cup sugar (1 ¾  oz)

¼  cup sweetened dried cranberries ( 1 ½   oz), chopped

1/3 cup pistachios, lightly toasted (1 ¾  oz)

Sparkling sugar

METHOD:

Whisk the flour and salt, set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar together until combined.

Add the flour and salt slowly.

Fold in the cranberries and pistachios.

Roll the dough into a log about 1 ½ inches wide.

Roll the log in the sparkling sugar.

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Wrap the log in parchment or wax paper. Chill until firm.

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

When dough is firm, slice about 1/3 inch thick. Place on parchment lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake 15-18 minutes until the cookies are set and very slightly golden on the edges.

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Yield about 30 cookies

Aunt Edith’s Slap Cookies

My Uncle Herb’s sister, Edith, was another wonderful baker that inspired me. She always came to family functions with some sort of great sweet in tow. She called these buttery, delicious cookies “Slap” cookies, because she just slapped them together!

Give them a try- they are simple to prepare. This recipe makes a good size batch. The cookies have a long shelf life and they freeze beautifully as well.

AUNT EDITH’S SLAP COOKIES

Heat oven to 350; Line cookie sheets with parchment.

INGREDIENTS:thumbprint cookie dough

3 cups all purpose flour (15oz)

¾ tsp table salt (not Kosher)

3 sticks (12 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 scant cup sugar (7oz)

1 TBS pure vanilla extract

1 egg yolk, from a large egg

¾ cup red currant jelly

METHOD:

Whisk the flour and salt together; set aside.pastry bag currant jelly

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract; mix until combined.

Add the flour and salt mixture and mix on low speed until dough comes together.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets with a 1” scoop.

Roll into balls.

With your finger tip, make an indentation in each ball of dough.

Fill the indentations with red currant jelly. A pastry bag or a Ziploc bag with the edge trimmed off works very well for this.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes until light golden.

Cool and enjoy!

Yield: 6 dozen

Celestine’s Everday Cookies

This recipe is my version of a cookie that my mother-in-law, Celestine always had whenever we came to visit. She was a prolific baker and this cookie was my favorite…not too sweet, filled with all kinds of good stuff. The perfect little treat.

CELESTINE’S EVERYDAY COOKIES

Heat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment

INGREDIENTS:

1 ¾ cups all purpose flourcookie dough

½ tsp cream of tartar

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp table salt

1 stick (4oz) unsalted butter

½ cup white sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

½ cup quick oats

½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped

½ cup crispy rice cereal

METHOD:

Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well to combine.full sheet

Add the flour mixture, when fully incorporated add the remaining ingredients.

Scoop onto the baking sheets. Flatten the dough slightly with your fingertips.

Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until golden.

This recipes yields 30 cookies when using a 1 ½ Tablespoon scoop.