So Ryan very kindly went to the store and got us a Christmas tree. It’s tiny, fits nicely in our apartment, and is exactly what I wanted. I love him (both Ryan and the tiny Christmas tree). I’m calling the tree R2Tree2, it’s embarrassing but I like the name. He is potted so he is actually alive which is nice. He’s also small and easy to fit through the door so when it does time to clean up, it shouldn’t result in as big a mess as we’ve had in Christmases past.

I know I should really get started on my own Christmas shopping, but instead I’ve decorated the tree, I’ve hung stockings, I’ve baked (but not constructed) a gingerbread house, and I’ve gathered present ideas online (AKA wasted time on Pinterest). During all that procrastination, I’ve found some cute kitchen stocking stuffers that I just have to share with you. So, I’ve made another gift list, and hopefully my procrastination can help you if you’re also a bit stuck with your shopping.

1. Cat Studio Dish Towels, $20 – These are really beautiful embroidered dish towels with images and designs of your favorite cities, states, and countries. They even have some holiday/Christmas themed ones. I have the one for Washington, DC and for the longest time I was worried about using it because I didn’t want to ruin it. But eventually I used it, got a giant chocolate stain on it, then washed it, and it was good as new. I think this is a really nice item to roll up for a stocking stuffer.

2. Fox Run Chicken Spoon Holder, $6. This is really cute and is also available in pig or rooster. Basically, this little kitchen friend clips to the side of your pot and then in the larger opening will grip your spoon. So, as you’re stirring or mixing you’ll have a nearby place to keep your spoon and won’t get any drips or puddles on your counter. I have one like this that’s just a metal hook, and it’s useful, but not nearly as charming.

3. Death Star Silicone Mold Ice Cube Tray 2-Pack , $8 – I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to share Star Wars related kitchen ware. This Death Star ice mold is hilarious, and apparently you can also use it to make ice cream or chocolate balls too. Also, I’m told large circular ice cubes are especially good for cocktails because they cool the drink, but melt slowly so they won’t water down your beverage.

4.Fred & Friends Ninjabread Men Cookie Cutters, $7 – Christmas is a time when you make lots of cookies. Why not spice up the regular gingerbread men and Santa with some super awesome ninja kicks? They are fun and you can use them throughout the year too. If I were in the US, I know I would be buying this for many of my friends!

5. Vacu Vin Wine Saver Vacuum Wine Pump with 2 Stoppers, $10 – I bought this as a present for someone last year, and I totally regret not buying one for myself. This vacuum wine saver is meant to give you 1-3 more days on your wine which is so nice! Sometimes I just want a glass with dinner, but I don’t want to open a whole bottle and ruin it. This thing would do just the trick and doesn’t take up too much space in your drawer or your stocking.

Two weeks to Christmas friends! Hope your shopping, baking, cooking, cleaning, decorating, preparing is going well.

Disclaimer – Most of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you were to make a purchase through one of these links, Cooking is Messy receives a small percentage of the sale price. I’m suggesting these items because I have them or want them, and think they are really good gift ideas.

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I love gingerbread so much that over the summer I found gingerbread lip balm, bought it, and then saved using it until last week. Ya know, so I’d only use it “in season.” I also love a good gingerbread latte. Look how cute this one is from Costa Coffee! Ryan said the gingerbread man looks so happy, but he doesn’t know he’s about to be submerged in hot liquid. And of course gingerbread cookies for Christmas. This year, I want to try and make a gingerbread house from scratch. However, as much as I love gingerbread, I’d never had it in a bready-cakey form. Obviously, that had to be remedied so I made a gingerbread cake.

If you haven’t had gingerbread cake before, please try this recipe. It is so moist, even four or five days after making it. The batter is actually pretty liquidy when finished, so that probably contributes to its moistness. The best part though is that this cake is jam packed with flavor. It has Guinness (or whatever stout you prefer) and for me, that gives it “chocolate notes” without it actually having chocolate. I know that might sound like the pretentious sort of thing you say about wine, but there are flavors in the cake that remind me of the richness of chocolate. I also think the Guinness adds just a slight edge of bitterness, which is nice because it keeps the cake from being too sweet (which most holiday cakes are).

But, a lot of the flavor comes from the fresh and ground ginger, cinnamon, molasses, and pepper. I love this combination of flavors. It is warming, intense on my taste buds, and makes me feel like holiday cheer is nearby. This cake has real presence. This is not a cake you absentmindedly scarf down, and later can’t recall what it tastes like, but all you know is that your teeth are coated in sugar. This cake is different. This cake says hey, I’m here, step into Christmas. This is the cake that is so full of character and quality that you only need a small piece to feel happy, satisfied, and full of holiday spirit. Warning: If you serve this at a party, let people know what it is so they don’t expect a brownie and then end up with an unexpected (but awesome) flavor shock.

I recommend serving it with a cloud of whipped cream because the light sweetness helps mellow out the cake. Or, better yet. Cozy up on the couch with a blanket, your favorite movie, and a cup of herbal tea. I don’t think you could have a more relaxing and pleasant afternoon.

I got this recipe from KCET, a California TV station, but originally it comes from America’s Test Kitchen.

Messy level: Three spoons. For the batter you need a sauce pan, two bowls, and the baking pan. It’s a lot of dishes! Also, molasses is always messy and buttering and flouring a pan can lead to spills. It’s not a daunting mess – you won’t have a ruined counter or apron, but it’s definitely not a one bowl cake.

Gingerbread Cake

 

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Ingredients

• ¾ cup Guiness (or stout of your choice)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ⅔ cup molasses
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting pan
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• powdered sugar (optional for dusting)
• whipped cream (optional, but highly recommended, for a side)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350/180°.
2. Butter and flour 8-inch square baking pan.
3. In a medium sauce pan, bring Guiness to boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally.
4. When it's come to a boil, remove from heat and stir in baking soda. The Guiness will foam up. When the foam stops, stir in molasses, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Stir until dissolved. It might like dissolved, but stir a bit more, I found the molasses deceiving.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ground ginger, baking powder, salt, cinnamon.
6. Pour the stout mixture into a medium bowl. Whisk eggs, oil, and grated ginger into the stout mixture. (You can do this all in the sauce pan if you want, but I don't want you scratching your pan)
7. Take wet mixture and whisk it into flour mixture in thirds. Each time you add, stir until completely smooth before adding more.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan. Tap pan against counter 3 or 4 times to remove air bubbles. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean and the top should be a bit firm.
9. Cool cake in pan.
10. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, if using. Then cut into squares and serve with a dollop of whipped cream, if using.

3.2.2807

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I have been thinking about making pumpkin pie and bringing it to work. I like bringing food into work because I love to bake and sharing what I make means Ryan and I won’t gorge too much on sweets. But one of the things I like best about living here (and travel in general) is trying and sharing new foods.

Since starting work, I have tried various kinds of cookies (biscuits, if I want to be proper about it) and a mince pie, which is a sweet pie that Santa gets when he comes with presents. I’ve brought in s’mores flavored candy corn – and practically no one had ever had candy corn or a s’more. And to digress for a second, it seems sad to me that s’mores aren’t a thing here. I think I should start a food truck that makes s’mores with different chocolates, different graham crackers, and maybe add-ins like nutella and bananas. Sounds delicious right? If you still don’t know what a s’more is, read about it here.

But back to pumpkin pie. From what I can tell, pumpkin pie isn’t really popular here. This is evidenced by the fact that nothing in the grocery store is pumpkin flavored whereas in the US everything is pumpkin flavored this time of year. Also, I introduced pumpkin pie to two people here, with, what I think was, great success. Recently Ryan and I were invited to an Italian lunch at our friends Alessia and Raffaello’s flat. Alessia made an amazing pasta, a meat dish, a cheese plate, potatoes, tomatoes and finished with esperesso. It was a delicious feast and Ryan and I loved trying some new Italian foods. For dessert, I brought a pumpkin cream cheese pie and it was the first time they had something like it. So I thought, maybe I should introduce more people to pumpkin pie and thereby become an ambassador for American sweets. And doesn’t that sound like an awesome job? Ambassador for American Sweets in the UK. I like it.

Writing all of this, it’s clear to me that I over think pie. And maybe in general, think about pie too much (if that’s possible). But, for perfect shareability, I thought making pumpkin pie bars would be the best way to go. Bars mean more pieces, no need for plates or utensils, and you can have as big or small a slice as you like – the perfect solution for sharing with a bunch of colleagues. I also decided to add a little richness by adding a sprinkling of chocolate chips at the top. I like pumpkin and chocolate, I think it’s nice but you can certainly leave them off. Next time I make these, I’m going to melt the chocolate and create some sort of marble swirl design on the top.

So, this batch was just for me and Ryan. But around Thanksgiving, I intend to bring these pumpkin pie bars to work and share some of my holiday traditions with the Brits. And I bet whoever your coworkers are, they’ll appreciate some pumpkin pie in the break room.

 Crust is adapted from a recipe by Sally’s Baking Addition and the pie filling is based on a recipe from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.

Messy level: This is actually a one spoon recipe because I bashed the graham crackers using a plastic bag and rolling pin. That means, in the end I only used one dish, one whisk, and a few measuring cups to make this whole recipe. Easy peasy! I also think because we’re making bars, the crumbs for the crust stay contained and don’t fall as easily as they do when making a regular pie.

Pumpkin Pie Bars

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Serves: 12

Ingredients

Crust

• 1¼ cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (Crush cookies in a processor or using a plastic bag and rolling pin)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ cup (60g) unsalted butter, melted

Pie Filling

• 1 large egg
• 1 egg white
• 1¼ cups pumpkin puree (it's about ¾ of a standard 15oz can)
• ¼ cup (50g) sugar
• ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon all spice
• sprinkle nutmeg
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1-2 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325/165°.
2. Mix the cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter together in a medium bowl until combined.
3. Press into the bottom of an 8x8 square pan.
4. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.
5. When the crust is done, turn the oven up to 425/220°.
6. To make the filling, lightly beat the egg and egg white in large bowl. Then whisk in the pumpkin, sugars, cinnamon, ginger, all spice, and nutmeg.
7. Slowly whisk in the cream to the pumpkin mixture.
8. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the prepared gingersnap crust.
9. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips, if using.
10. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350/180° and cook for another 20 minutes. The pie is ready when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

3.2.2807

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Happy Three Kings Day! If you’re not familiar with Three Kings Day, it’s also called the Epiphany and you can read about it here. To summarize though, Three Kings Day is the 12th day of Christmas and it’s when the three kings (or wise men) found Jesus and brought him the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It’s a holiday celebrated by lots of different cultures, especially in Latin America.

To celebrate this year, I decided to have a dinner party for 10 people in our tiny apartment. I invited three of my former coworkers, their significant others, my parents, and my brother. It was a tight fit (Charlotte and Craig had to bring chairs and a table), it was a little hot (I had to open the sliding door), and we used every single dish we own – but it was a blast and I’m so glad to have thrown a little party to catch up with friends and family.

And boy did we cook up a storm! In truth, Ryan and my mom did most of the fancy cooking. Together we made sangria, coquito (a coconut drink I’ll post about later), green beans, arroz con gandules, a beautiful  beef tenderloin, cheesecake, and of course, flan. It was a big meal and pretty delicious. Most importantly, it was fun. It was wonderful having my friends together, and laughing, and chatting. It was a wonderful way to start the new year and celebrate the holiday.

My only regret, is that I took very few pictures. Sigh. I had fancy napkins, red and green place mats, a pretty Christmas tree, and gorgeous food. Seriously, Ryan made a beautiful 5.5 pound beef tenderloin and it was so tender and lovely. The only picture I have is when you see it on the table in the group shot, and the picture I took of my plate when I was 90% finished eating. I wish I had more photos of everything and everyone.

For today’s post, I wanted to highlight my mom’s flan.  If you’re not familiar with flan, it’s similar in flavor to a creme brulee but instead of a hard sugar topping, it has a gooey caramel topping. It’s a custard that’s sweet, silky, and a bit jiggly. In my mind, this is one of those “magic” recipes that seems hard to figure out. In part this is because her recipe is a stained and ripped piece of paper, there aren’t any instructions, and it is just a list of ingredients and their respective portions.

I also think it’s hard because in middle school my friend Lisa and I made one for Spanish class and we burnt it and didn’t even know it until we tasted it. But, upon watching my mom make this recipe, I’ve decided it is really about patience and confidence. You have to trust your eye and you can’t rush because this takes hours to make well.

Anyway, the work is worth it because it was a big hit. My friend Ashley was skeptical that she would like it, but then after a bite she let out a gleeful, “Ooo, I like flan!” And Craig was the “flan man” and served everyone’s portion with gusto. There was none left at the end of the night. So, I know that holidays are over and you might not have much use for another dessert recipe, but I think you should consider giving this one a try. It will change what you think about flan.

Note: Scroll all the way down for printer friendly, more condensed recipe without photos. 

Ingredients:

Double boiler

4 eggs

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup milk (you can use any kind of milk as long as it’s cow’s milk, soy milk does not work)

12oz can evaporated milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Fill the bottom of the double boiler with water. You want the water to be just at the level of the bottom of top of the double boiler (when the two pieces are fitted together). You don’t want the water to be too high, otherwise when you’re cooking steam can get trapped in the flan and ruin it. Heat the water on medium until it comes to a gentle boil.

2. In blender, mix the eggs, sugar (1 cup+1 tbsp), vanilla, evaporated milk, and milk.

3. On another burner, heat 4 tbsp of sugar in the top of the double boiler. This is how you’re making the caramel topping.

4. Stir the sugar regularly. You don’t have to stir it constantly and aggressively, but you need to stir it regularly so it doesn’t burn. Watch the sugar carefully, if it bubbles then you’ll need to start over. Ultimately you want to make a caramel that is light golden brown, not dark. This process can take about 20 minutes. I tell you this so you don’t worry if it’s taking a long time, but don’t wait 20 minutes if the caramel is looking pretty earlier.

4a. So, as you’re stirring, the sugar will start to get clumpy. Use your spoon to squish the clumps. Then it will start to turn light brown. Then it will glisten and liquefy. It will smell like a candy apple. If you feel it’s going too fast, lower the heat. Or, remove it from the heat, stir, and then put it back on the burner. Ultimately you will have a  gorgeous caramel sauce. It’s done when it’s beautiful brown and a dragging spoon leaves a trail behind it.  How the sugar transforms is amazing. Cooking and science are amazing.

5. When it’s done, take the caramel off the heat. Let it sit for a minute or two to thicken.

6. Pulse the custard mixture you have in the blender just to mix it up again.

7. Scoop 1/4 cup of the custard mixture. Put the cup against the side of the double boiler, and slowly, slowly pour the custard on top of the caramel. It will slowly seep out of the cup, down the side, and cover the caramel. Do this again for a second and third time. You’re doing this so that the caramel stays a topping and doesn’t leak into the custard layer.

8. After the second and third time, you can poor a little more quickly. But, still pour it gently against the side of the bowl. Don’t just plop it on!

9. Put the top of the double boiler on top of the bottom of the double boiler (over the bubbling water). If the water starts to bubble too fast, then lower the heat. The middle picture is bubbling too fast, the third picture is slower and gentler.

10. Let it cook until the custard sets and doesn’t wiggle much. To check this you remove the lid of the double boiler, and shake it gently. To get to the finished product takes a LONG time. About 1.5- 3 hours, but maybe more. As you cook, the water will evaporate. When it gets to 1/2 inch of water, add some more hot water and keep cooking.

11. Let cool for one hour.

12. Put it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

13. Take a pie plate. Put it over the flan and quickly and smoothly flip it. The flan will drop out onto the pie plate and be ready to serve. Take a spoon and scoop out any caramel left in the double boiler. Spoon that over the flan.

14. Serve and enjoy!

Messy level: This isn’t too crazy messy, but I think it deserves a three spoon rating. You have to use a blender, double boiler, and pie plate, so there’s a lot of dishes in the end. What’s good though, is that you have lots of time between steps so you can clean as you go and you aren’t left with a big pile at the end.

Flan

 

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Prep time

1 hour 30 mins

Cook time

3 hours

Total time

4 hours 30 mins

 

Author: Cooking is Messy

Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients

Custard

• 4 eggs
• ½ cup + 1 tablespoon/ 112 grams sugar
• ½ cup/ 120 ml whole milk (any cow's milk will work, soy won't!)
• 12oz/ 340 gram can evaporated milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

Caramel

• 4 tbsp/ 50 grams sugar

Instructions

1. Fill the bottom of the double boiler with water. You want the water to be just at the level of the bottom of top of the double boiler (when the two pieces are fitted together). Heat the water on medium until it comes to a gentle boil. Let it gently boil while you do other steps.
2. In a blender combine the eggs, sugar, milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla. Set aside.
3. On another burner over low heat, heat the 4 tablespoons of sugar (for the caramel) in the top of the double boiler. Stir constantly!
4. Watch the sugar carefully so it does not come to a boil. The sugar will turn from white granules, to small rocks, to smooth liquid. When you have only 1-2 small tiny clumps but mostly liquid remove the heat. Continue stirring for another 30-60 second until you feel it thicken slightly and a spoon dragged through will leave a bit of trail.
5. Quickly re-blend the custard in the blender.
6. Using a ¼ measuring cup, fill it with custard. Press the cup against the side of your double boiler that has the caramel. Slowly pour the custard over the caramel. Going this slow means the custard will sit atop the caramel and not mix in.
7. Once the caramel is totally covered in a layer of custard you can start to pour faster. You can either continue with the measuring cup or you can lean the lip of the blender on the edge of the double boiler and slowly pour. Whatever you do, don't just plop the custard on!
8. Once the custard as been completely added, put the top of the boiler over the bottom with the boiling water. Cover with the lid.
9. Watch the water. If it's bubbling too fast lower the heat. You want it to be a continuous boil but not aggressive and bopping.
10. Cook until the flan wobbles slightly (like jello) when you gently shake the pan. This can take between 1.5 and 3 hours. Depends on the amount of water you have and how high the heat is. Check on the flan every 30-45 minutes. Check it by gently shaking the pan to test the wobble. Check it also by making sure you have at least ½ inch of water.
11. When finished cooking, remove the lid and the bottom of the double boiler. Let cool for 30 minutes at room temperature. Wipe the lid dry so condensation won't ruin the flan.
12. Cover the flan with the lid and put in the fridge for at least one hour, but ideally until you're ready to serve.
13. Remove the lid, put a plate or pie plate over the double boiler. Holding them both firmly, quickly flip the double boiler over so the flan will fall out onto the plate.
14. Spoon out any caramel left behind in the double boiler.
15. Slice and serve

3.5.3208

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Now, some of you might be saying, “Mariel are you crazy?! I love canned cranberry sauce and it is a Thanksgiving staple.” And I hear you. Canned cranberry sauces is sweet, predictable, and tastes pretty good. But let me give you four reasons to consider making it yourself.

1. It’s super easy to make. With this recipe, even the most inexperienced cook can bring something delicious to the holiday table. And it stores well too, so you can make it days ahead of time.

2. The numbers don’t lie. This recipe is both inexpensive and makes a lot. One bag of fresh cranberries about $2 and a can is about $1.50. And, one 12oz bag of fresh cranberries will make about 2.5 cups of sauce (about 20 oz), while a can is usually 14oz. You’re getting up to 6 oz more of cranberry goodness for just 50¢.

3. Three ingredients. All pronounceable, all familiar.

4. The “awe factor.” You’ll bring it to your holiday feast and people will be all, “wow you made that,” and they don’t have to know that it took you less than 15 minutes. Making your own cranberry sauce, you can feel proud that you stepped Thanksgiving up a notch. BOOM.

Seriously, I love this recipe. I made it on Sunday and have just been eating it straight from the bowl with a spoon. I take it to work as a lunchtime side dish. Ryan has has about 2 spoonfuls and I’ve probably eaten the rest.  I like to think this is how I’m getting my daily servings of fruit.

But, if you still absolutely need your can, and you think this is the most ridiculous, blasphemous post ever – please stick with me just a bit longer. At the bottom of the recipe I have a few variations that might satisfy those of you who prefer smooth and canned cranberry sauce.

Adapted from how my mom told me to make this (and also the back of the Ocean Spray bag)

Ingredients:

1 cup of water

1 cup of sugar

1 12oz bag of fresh (or frozen) cranberries

Directions:

1. Rinse cranberries.

I used frozen berries

2. Put the water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat on high and bring it to a boil. As that water is heating up, I stir occasionally to help the sugar dissolve.

3. Once the water is boiling, add the cranberries. When the water has come back to a roiling boil, then lower the heat to medium-low.

4. Simmer the cranberries for 10 minutes, or until the water becomes thick and red. This simmering part is THE BEST. The cranberries hiss, sizzle, and pop open. Their skins burst and their sweet-tart juice ooze out.

5. Remove from heat and let cool a bit. Store in the refrigerator. The sauce will thicken a bit more as it cools.

Variation #1 – For a citrus twist on an old favorite add up to 1/2 cup of orange juice in with the water and sugar. Follow the directions as above. At the end, stir in zest from 1 orange.

Variation #2 – Prefer smooth sauce? Follow the recipe above. Once it’s cool enough to touch, pour the sauce into a fine mesh sieve or colander. Place that over a bowl. Using a metal spoon or your hands, press the sauce through the sieve. Keep pressing until all that’s left in your sieve are the seeds and skins. In your bowl you’ll have smooth sauce.

Variation #3 – Absolutely need the can shape? Find how you can do it here, from Food 52.

Messy Level – Just one spoon. The only time I made a mess was when I’d sneak the container out from the fridge and then eat giant spoonfuls over the counter. There was spilling. It was delicious, so I couldn’t be neat as I scarfed it down.

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I love holiday decorations. From October to February you can be sure there is some sort of decoration in our apartment.  Holiday decorations make me feel happy and festive. Why treat holidays like any other day when there’s the opportunity to make things look colorful and special?I have things to hang on the door, towels to go in the bathroom, centerpieces for the kitchen table and much much more. And of course, I also have things for baking (Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter cookie cutters). A few weeks ago I added to the collection while I was shopping with two college friends. I found a four-pack container of Halloween sprinkles.

“What are you going to make?” Jackie asked, “I expect to see them on your blog.”

Gulp. This was going to be a mini-challenge. I had planned to make regular sugar cookies, but that was out of the question since I’ve already posted that recipe.  So what to make? She suggested cupcakes and I was totally prepared to do that, until I was indulging in some after work retail therapy at Hill’s Kitchen, and I bought a set of Halloween cookie cutters. Therefore, cookies it would be.

I wanted something with a holiday flair, so I searched for pumpkin cookie recipes and didn’t find anything I was excited about. Then I went to my favorite cookie book, The Art of the Cookie and found a brown sugar cookie recipe that included a suggested addition of cinnamon and all spice. Boom, I was sold. Ultimately, I didn’t stray too far from the regular sugar cookie but these are different enough in look and taste. While cooking the whole apartment filled with a warm cinnamon smell that made the place feel like the holidays. The cookies are chewy, with a rich flavor that reminded me a bit of mellow gingerbread cookie. The cookie comes out a nice brown, and topped with autumnal colored sprinkles, they have just the spooky Halloween feel I was hoping for.

Aparted from the Art of the Cookie

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp all spice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

14 tbsp unsalted butter (it’s less than 2 sticks)

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp heavy cream (usually I just use milk, this time I actually used cream)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, all spice, and nutmeg.

2. Using an electric mixer (or your arm if you’re strong!) mix the butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy. This should take 2-3 minutes in the mixer and it will look like a mocha colored mousse.

3.  Add the egg and molasses to the butter and sugar. Beat on low until the egg is completely incorporated.

4. Still on low, slowly add the flour into the wet ingredients. I did this in four batches. I’d pour some in, mix until it was mostly incorporated, then add more flour, and mix again.

5. Add the heavy cream and mix until everything is incorporated.

6. Scrape out all the dough and form it into a large rectangle or circle. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least one hour. I left the dough in the fridge for a day. I made the dough one night and then baked it a day later.

This is the dough after it’s been wrapped and in the fridge

7. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°.

8. Generously flour your work surface and rolling pin. Take the dough out of the fridge. Break out a manageable piece (I broke it into thirds). Using the rolling pin, roll the dough until its somewhere between 1/4″ and 1/8″ thick.

9. Press cookie cutters in the dough to make the shapes you want!

10. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the cookies at least 1/2″ apart. Decorate with sprinkles ahead of time if you want, or you can wait to decorate until they are done being baked.

11. Bake for 10-13 minutes. Since the cookies are dark it’s hard to tell when they are done. Simply press the center of the cookie with your finger. If it’s mushy let them cook longer. If it’s a little firm, the cookies are ready!

Messy Level: I’m giving this three spoons. For me, all baking is messy. I opened up a brand new all spice bottle, but the teaspoon in to scoop and when I took the spoon out I spilled probably another 1/2 tsp. Why can’t I be clean?! I truly don’t know. I also had dough on the sleeves of my sweatshirt. Cookie-cutter cookies take a lot of steps, and a lot of flour, and therefore there is so much opportunity to make a big mess. But for me, these kind of cookies make the holidays.

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