Valentine's Cupcakes, Brownies, and Sugar Cookies

My blog and I have missed the schedule (albeit, a loose one) that TWD provided. It's busy around here (Baby Strawberry is potty training!) and while I haven't posted much my kitchen has been bustling! I had a baby shower for my girlfriend who is having her first girl (after three boys!) any day now. Pink was a priority and a valentine's theme made it easy (considering all of my serving dishes are red!) These treats are all pretty simple and have a big wow factor with the amazing flavors and little details. I've posted the red velvet cupcakes and mint brownies before- though I've never made the mint brownies pink, that was a new one!  

Mint Brownies

Red Velvet Cupcakes (they're from a mix, but I promise no one will know)

The cookies (L's in honor of the baby) are Natalie's signature recipe. I'm no decorator but I've improved with her tips. Natalie uses a Wilton Squeeze bottle to pipe the outsides of the cookies (like drawing, nothing to stressful) and then uses another with thinned icing to 'flood' or fill the middle. In-a-hurry-not-so-steady-hands-Anne doesn't do them justice but they were yummy and cute (especially with the edible glitter, I love that stuff!) The best part about the cookies is you can bake off extras and freeze them to decorate and serve another time, all the end product without the stress. Natalie's recipe is pretty full proof- if I can do it- and you don't have fuss much with the dough. She doesn't chill hers, though I do normally, and they come out great every time. Sugar cookies take a lot more practice than cupcakes but the practice is enjoyable and delicious, worth the effort I think!

Note- I used Martha Stewart Alphabet Cookies Cutters I found at Macy's (similar to these here) that have been surprisingly practical- even adult are vain about their names! Smaller, thinner shapes will take less cooking time- watch them carefully!)


Natalie’s Sugar Cookies
from Anne Strawberry

1 cup butter or Crisco (Natalie uses the butter flavored kind, I usually use about 2/3 butter and 1/3 regular shortening)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup sour cream
5-6 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
 

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, vanilla, and sour cream and beat. Add dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Reserve some flour for the counter and dump the almost mixed dough out and shape it as you would pie dough. Divide into two disks, chill for 15 minutes, then roll to ½ inch thickness and cut as desired. Bake at 400 for 8-12 minutes (depending on size of cookies).

Natalie’s Signature Almond Frosting

*note- Natalie uses almond extract and her frosting is so good but I usually sub in vanilla since my tall man is not so adventurous!)
⅓ cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon almond extract
1-2 tablespoons milk

Blend butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla and milk- beat until smooth. Flavor and color as desired. Use plastic condiment bottles to pipe icing onto cookies (thin with milk or warm in microwave to flood centers).

Hello 2012! & 2011's Best

If you read blogs, you've seen all the roundups that happen this time of year. It's fun to see old favorites and find new inspiration from some of my favorite bloggers so I thought I would post my far and away most popular recipes of the year (late, of course, in typical Anne fashion).



Dark Chocolate Sweet Rolls (an updated Brioche Raisin Snails, my favorite Dorie recipe ever). If there was such a thing as a TWD Final Project, I would present these. Pastry Cream, something I couldn't ever get quite right before Dorie, is now my best friend. Brioche dough- rich, delicious, and suprisingly simple. Chopped, high quality chocolate (a Dorie must) and a beautiful glaze for presentation. I learned a lot from Dorie and it was fun to take the new skills and tricks and recreate/reinvent my favorite thing I ate in France using them.

Marshmallow Fondant Pirate Cupcakes- it's like playdoh for grownups. If you can use a mixer, a rolling pin, and a cookie cutter- you can do this!

Rainbow Frosted Soft Sugar Cookies (like the ones at the store... but fresh and delicious! Also, no cooling, rolling, and cutting like traditional sugar cookies, that's a win for me.)

Texas Sheet Cake (this is simple baking at it's finest- but I am not responsible for your New Year's Resolutions if you bake this cake!)

Dorie's Classic Brownies

And my most viewed recipe, Peppermint Bark Cheesecake. This was my first Tuesdays with Dorie recipe pick and I made it for a baby shower that I was so busy hosting- I forgot to bring my camera! The pictures are meh but the cheesecake is divine. I should go see if there's still any peppermint bark to be had and make it again, it's worth it!

Big thanks to my top refers Tracey and Aggie. They have lovely sites you should go check out! And are you on Pinterest? You can see me here or email me if you'd like an invite (my email's on the side bar). Be warned, it's super addicting (just like the sheet cake, but less calories!)

TWD's last- Thumprint Cookies (and Christmas)

 

Oh my how the time has flown. This week is the LAST Tuesdays with Dorie recipe and the end of the year! I remember the shock I felt at how heavy the book felt when I first opened it and the end has come. Since I joined TWD I have gained the confidence to try new recipes, make substitutions and adaptations, burned through a million boxes of butter, and made a lot of new friends. I'm so grateful to Laurie and Dorie and all the other helpers along the way for such a wonderful experience (and a million favorite recipes).

 

Dorie chose this weeks recipe. These cookies came together in less than five minutes- butter, peanut butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a little flour. Scoop and roll in egg whites and then chopped nuts (I used cashews since I had those on had), make a little 'thumbprint' and bake. Dorie suggests filling them with jam but I piped in some melted white chocolate. The end product is peanut buttery, crunchy and delicious (albeit rich!) My kids LOVED these and I am glad to have some extra dough in the freezer for another day. See the rest of the bunch here.


I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did. Baby Strawberry and I love her new play kitchen Nana built. It's shiny and red and came complete with her own KitchenAid (what more could a girl ask for?) Well, I do hope Santa drops off Baking with Julia a little late for me. I think my kitchen wouldn't be complete without a Dorie recipe each week- though there are certainly plenty of Baking recipes in permanent rotation around here!

TWD- Apple Pie and Classic Brownies

 Oh I can't believe Tuesdays with Dorie is coming to an end! I've loved this event so much, meeting new people, trying new recipes, learning new skills and gaining the confidence to tackle any random recipe. This week's assignment was a rewind- trying out an old favorite or something you didn't get to previously. Like so many of you we are busy busy this time of year, with lots of opportunities to bake and limited time to photo and blog! This week my tall man needed a treat to take to work so I made Dorie's classic brownies. I frosted them with a simple chocolate frosting and sprinkled on silver sanding sugar. I cut them into individual portions and put them in cupcake liners- they looked festive and were easy to serve out (a win win!) Of course I don't have a picture so here is a previous version as well as a link to the recipe.

Sunday I made Dorie's All American All Delicious Apple Pie for a family birthday party. I didn't want to serve anything particularly Christmas-y since it seems like December birthdays get ripped off pretty often! I used some new pie crust cutters a friend gave me for my birthday to quick and easily decorate the pie top with flowers. They were simple to use and super cute (and the ones I found on Amazon have a strawberry, I might need those eventually!) The recipe itself is perfection. I've made this pie a million times and while I think there are a few Dorie inspired recipes that are more so my favorite, this pie must be one of the true favs from the sheer number of times it's been baked. Don't miss Dorie's buttery, delicious pie crust (my husband's favorite!) I always double the recipe and freeze a couple of disks of pie crust so I can pull them out and have a delicious, homemade dessert without the time or mess.

See more of this week's Dorie recipe's here and have a very Merry Christmas. We'll be eating ham, rolls, potatoes, green beans, and all of our favorite fixing on Christmas day. I haven't decided on a dessert yet but if you have a family favorite or traditional Christmas dessert please do share- I'd love some ideas!

Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough
adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
3/8 cup very cold (frozen is even better) Crisco (plain, not butter flavored), cut into 4 pieces
About 1/2 cup ice water

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don't overdo the mixing—what you're aiming for is to have pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley.

Pulsing the machine on and off, add 3 tablespoons of the water—add a little water and pulse once; add some more water and pulse again; and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn't look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. If you've got big pieces of butter, that's fine. The dough is ready and should be scraped out of the work bowl and on to a smooth work surface. (be careful not too add too much water- if the dough looks dry after adding most of the water, pinch it with your hands to check if it's coming together, and finish combining it by hand)

Shape the dough into a disk and wrap it. Refrigerate the dough at least 1 hour before rolling. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month.