Gingerbread Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

Makes 16 cookies .

• 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon finely ground pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup unsulfured molasses
• Royal Icing
• Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 1/4-inch thick. Cut into snowflakes with a 7- inch snowflake-shape cookie cutter. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
5. Put icing in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (such as Ateco #7). Pipe designs on snowflakes; immediately sprinkle with sanding sugar. Let stand 5 minutes; tap off excess sugar. Let icing set completely at room temperature, about 1 hour. Store cookies between layers of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

First published   

Copyright 2010 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Gingerbread House

Adapted by Food Network from a recipe courtesy of Beatrice Ojakangas

Prep Time:

1 hr 15 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

15 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

One recipe of dough makes one

Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]
1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ cup boiling water
5 cups all-purpose flour [875g]

For assemblage and decoration:

• Melted white chocolate or Royal Icing (recipe follows)
• Gumdrops, licorice and peppermint, as desired

Directions

Gingerbread House:

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda together until the mixture is smooth. Blend in the flour and water to make a stiff dough. Chill at least 30 minutes or until firm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut paper patterns for the gingerbread house:

Two rectangles (figs. A and B), 3 by 5 inches, to make the front and back of the house. Two rectangles (figs. C and D), 3 by 5 1/2 inches for the roof. Two pieces for the ends of the house (figs. E and F), 3 inches wide at the base, 3 inches to the roof line, and slanted to a peak 5 1/2 inches from the bottom. Four smaller rectangles (figs. G, H, I, and J), 1 1/2 by 1 inch for the roof and sides of the entryway. And one piece (fig. K), 2 inches wide at the base, 1 1/2 inches to the roof line, and slanted to a peak 2 1/2 inches from the bottom for the front of the entryway.

Roll gingerbread dough out to edges on a large, rimless cookie sheet. Place paper patterns onto the rolled out dough. With a sharp, straight edged knife, cut around each of the pieces, but leave pieces in place.

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes until dough feels firm.

Place patterns on top of the gingerbread again and trim shapes, cutting edges with a straight-edged sharp knife. Leave to cool on baking sheet.

Place royal icing into pastry bag with a writing tip and press out to decorate individual parts of house, piping on decorations, windows, door, etc., as desired. Let dry until hardened.

Glue sides, front and back of house together at corners using royal icing. Place an object against the pieces to prop up until icing is dry (it only takes a few minutes).

Glue the two roof pieces to the pitched roofline of the house. Then, similarly, glue the sides and roof of the entryway together with icing. Attach the entryway to the front of the house.

Continue decorating the house, glueing on gumdrops, licorice and peppermint, as desired.

Royal Icing:

• 1 pound (3-3/4 cups) powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
• 1 to 2 large egg whites, or substitute 4 teaspoons packaged egg whites and 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon almond extract, vanilla or lemon juice

Mix all of the ingredients together using an electric hand mixer, until the icing is smooth and thin enough to be pressed through a pastry bag with a writing tip. Add more lemon juice, if necessary.


http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/pdfs/2009Q4/ms_hol09_swedish_gingerbread_house_temp.pdf

Shortbread

Made basic shortbread last Christmas for the first time.  What I love about shortbread is it keeps for THREE weeks.  I'll have to dip some in melted dark chocolate this year like the photo above.  It's really yummy with coffee and it only takes one square to satisfy a sweet craving.  With all that butter, it's definitely rich!

 

Ingredients

Publish Post

Makes 8 to 10 wedges

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 cup confectioners' or granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8 1/2-inch round cake or springform pan. Sift together flour and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, cream butter until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sugar, and continue to beat until very light in color and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, about 2 minutes more. Add flour mixture, and beat on low, scraping bowl if necessary, until flour is just incorporated and dough sticks together when squeezed.
2. Pat dough into prepared pan. Use a paring knife to score dough into wedges; prick all over in even intervals with a wooden skewer or fork.
3. Bake until firm in the center and just starting to color, about 50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Cut into wedges. Cookies will keep, in an airtight container, at room temperature 3 weeks.

From The Martha Stewart Show, December 2008

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Basic Shortbread - Martha Stewart Recipes

Cheddar Topped Sheperd's Pie

Made this several times last winter.  Cheap, easy, and a great comfort food. 

 I think original cottage pie, later known as shepherd's pie, was made of minced lamb or mutton.

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 2 pounds baking potatoes (about 4), peeled and thinly sliced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as safflower
• 6 medium carrots, halved lengthwise, quartered if large, and thinly sliced
• 6 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 pounds ground beef chuck
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar (6 ounces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450. Place potatoes in a large saucepan, and cover by 1 inch with salted water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high. Add carrots, celery, onion, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add flour and tomato paste; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add beef; cook, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink, 6 to 8 minutes. Add 1 cup water; bring to a boil, and simmer 1 minute. Set beef filling aside.
3. Drain potatoes; return to pan. Cook over medium, stirring, until liquid has evaporated and a thin film covers bottom of pan, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat; add milk and 1 cup cheese. Mash until smooth; season cheddar-potato topping with salt and pepper.
4. Pour beef filling into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Drop dollops of topping over filling; spread to edges with a spatula. Using a fork, make decorative peaks; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake until topping is browned and filling is bubbling rapidly, about 20 minutes (if topping and filling were chilled, increase to 35 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

From Everyday Food, October 2008

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie - Martha Stewart Recipes

Espresso Snowcaps

Came out a bit too sweet, for me at least.  The extra confectioner's sugar didn't help.  Still tasty though!  I'll have to try using 1/2 C of brown sugar next time.




Espresso Snowcaps

Makes 18

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 teaspoons instant espresso
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Confectioners' sugar, for coating

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well combined; mix in cooled chocolate. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat in milk until just combined. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Pour confectioners' sugar (about 1/2 cup) into a medium bowl; working in batches, roll balls in sugar two times, letting them sit in sugar between coatings.
3. Place on prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, 12 to 14 minutes; cookies will still be soft to the touch. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps - Martha Stewart Recipes

Molasses Cookies

Made these last Christmas.  Spicy yummy goodness!



Makes 36

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup molasses

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a shallow bowl, place 1/2 cup sugar; set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and remaining cup of sugar until combined. Beat in egg and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in dry ingredients, just until a dough forms.
3. Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to 1 tablespoon. Roll balls in reserved sugar to coat.
4. Arrange balls on baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges of cookies are just firm, 10 to 15 minutes (cookies can be baked two sheets at a time, but they will not crackle uniformly). Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; transfer to racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 4 days.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Chewy Molasses-Spice Cookies - Martha Stewart Recipes

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

From the most recent Weekend Kitchen newsletter, a great recipe for my first attempt at Thanksgiving Pie!

Thanksgiving Twofer Pie
Can't decide what kind of pie to make this year.  Dorie Greenspan has the answer in her twofer pie- Pecan and Pumpkin.  Don't forget the home made whip cream or vanilla ice cream with this one!

Baking: From My Home to Yours
by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)
Saveur Magazine Link to recipe

FOR A 9" SINGLE CRUST:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 sticks (10 tbsp.) very cold (frozen is fine) unsalted
   butter, cut into tbsp.-size pieces
2 1/2 tbsp. very cold (frozen is even better) vegetable
   shortening, cut into 2 pieces

*** Short on time and  need to buy a crust?  Try the Trader Joe's pie crusts.  They are really good and not full of as many ingredients you can't pronounce as the other brands.

FOR THE PUMPKIN FILLING:
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp. dark rum
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt

FOR THE PECAN FILLING:
1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups (about 7 oz.) pecan halves or pieces
1. For the crust: Put flour, sugar, and salt into a food processor; pulse to combine. Drop in butter and shortening; pulse to cut into flour. What you're aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing, gradually add about 3 tbsp. ice water-add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again; keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get water into flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn't look evenly moistened, pulse in up to 1 tbsp. more ice water, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Shape dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour.
2. For the pumpkin filling: Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor. Leave filling in bowl.
3. For the pecan filling: In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients except pecans until smooth.
4. Preheat oven to 450°. Roll dough out to a 12" circle on a floured counter, turning dough over frequently; keep counter floured. Slide dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up. Fit dough into a buttered 9" pie plate; cut excess dough to a 1/4"-1/2" overhang. Fold dough under itself, so that it hangs over the edge just a tad, and flute or pinch the crust to make a decorative edge.
5. To assemble: Give the pumpkin filling one last quick pulse, then remove bowl, rap it on counter to debubble batter, and pour filling into crust. Top pumpkin filling evenly with pecans, then pour over pecan filling. Poke down any pecans that float to the top and aren't covered with filling. Bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300° and bake for another 35-40 minutes, or until it is evenly puffed and a slender knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer pie to a cooling rack and let it stand until it is just warm or until it reaches room temperature.

MAKES 1  9" PIE