Mickey and Minnie Cookie Party Pack

I made this for a friend - it's for her daughter's birthday celebration in school on Monday.

It took me 20min to make the dough, another 3 hours to roll, cut and bake them. When finally done, I decided to make some extras for the just-in-case.

So there goes another 2 hours. By the time I finish up packaging the first batch of cookies into the individual bags , it's 3am.

The next day, I thought just a little more to go. *Scream* See...I do not know how some of the fondant have flatten out overnight???

Oh man, I had to spend another few more hours to make bake, roll and cut... All in all, I took over 12 hours for less than 20 packs of these. I really need to be more efficient!

After all the hard work, these smiling faces make me really happy!

Absolutely Cute Sanrio Cookie

These cookies are not only eye candies, they are absolutely yummy. Some friends told me they hate the plasticky tasting fondant... so I made these to see if they will change their mind.

You bet - they are now converts.

They told me these are better than the plain cookies.

Just the cookie to delight the little princess, IMHO ;-)
If you want these cookies for birthdays or just to delight the little ones, pls leave your contact in the comment below. Your details will not be published.
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Simple Butter Cookie (Eggless)

450 g plain flour } sifted together
50g corn flour }
180 g castor sugar
250 g salted butter, at room temp
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract, optional

Method

1. Cream sugar and butter until light and creamy .
2. Turn to slow speed and add milk and vanilla extract.
3. Add in flour mixture slowly in 3 batches.
4. Roll out dough into 3mm thickness and use cookie cutters to make your desired shapes
5. Bake cookies in oven at 160 degrees C for 15 minutes or until lightly golden on edge.

Christmas Butter Cookie

Time really flies... I can't believe it's already Christmas. I have some really nice cookie cutter that I was waiting to use for the xmas cookie but my energy level is not to the elaborate process of cookie art. So I took the easy way out bu making the spritz cookie.

The recipe comes from Betty Saw's Cookie Galore. But i made some major modification to it. I am too lazy to type it out. If you want the recipe, pls leave a comment and I will get down to it soon.

Instead of the piping bag and tip which Betty uses, I used the Cookie Press thinking that this could be easier to manage.

Mistake. It is just as tricky, if not more. Many times, the dough will not drop from the press. Other times, part of the dough dropped. Even more times I had to scoop the dough back into the press!

Having said, Sheen and I had a fun afternoon doing this. He was always eager to help me put the M&Ms, quinns, or sprinkles over the plain cookies.

For me, I had fun seeing how the pretty cookie take shape as they wiggle thru the metal plate.

haha, I burnt the cookies towards the end... cos I was just too tired to watch the oven closely.

Once I empty the cookie jar, I will certainly be back playing with these plates as the crumbly crunchy cookies are so light and buttery. I can already see myself using this recipe over and over again!

UPDATED 25/12:

Butter Cookie
240g butter, cut into cubes
90g icing sugar
270g Top flour (or Hong Kong Flour or Cake Flour)
2 tsp vanilla essence
Some full cream milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Cream butter in mixer till fluffy. Add 2 tbsp of milk & vanilla essence. Mix until well combine.
3. Sift icing sugar over butter, followed by flour. Mix till combined. Do not overmix.
4. This is the tricky part: Check the consistency of the dough - it should be soft enough to be piped thru the cookie press. If not, add 1 tbsp more milk until it is soft enough.
5. Fill the dough into cookie press and use as per the press instruction.
6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes till cookies are light golden brown. Allow cookies to cool.
   
   

Recipe Notes:

• This is a very simple recipe which needs the best butter you can get. I use Lurpak.
• Press and bake immediate.

Beary Happy Family

This is the cookie cutter I used:

Btw, I like to share this ecological idea - use the clean shower cap to replace your glad cling wrap. It is a more sustainable approach to the environment, you can use them over and over again!

(Eggless) Almond Suji Cookies

This recipe came highly recommended by Yum Yum, a Malaysian culinary magazine. If you have a collection of these magazines, it is issue 58!

I was reseaching for a recipe that would retain its shape well... this is for HI daughter's 1st birthday. Now you see how much stress I get to produce the winnie pooh cookie!

Back to the recipe, I was enthralled bythe perfectly shaped chick in the magazine... I was so caught up in the straight sides of the cookie!!!

Made this with another recipe which didn't quite make it.

The one below is made with the recipe here.

Almond Suji Cookies
recipe taken from Yum Yum
Ingredients A:
60g salted butter (I use Golden Churn)
50 shortening (I use crisco)
50g icing sugar (original 60g)

Ingredients B:
30g ground almond
20g suji (this is the samolina flour, available under Prima brand)
160g plain flour, sifted

Method:

1. Beat A until fluffy. Add in B and mix into a dough.



2. Roll out the dough into 1cm thick and cut into desired shape.



3. Optional : I freeze it for 30min before baking... I read somewhere this will help to retain shape better. You can skip this step if you are not so concern with the shape.



4. Bake in a preheated oven at 160C for 15min or until light golden. Remove and cool on wire rack.

My notes:

• My dough appeared crumbly after step 1. So I simply drizzle some cold milk over it. Very sparingly. This is the tricky part: If too much liquid is added, it will be too soft to be rolled out. Then use your hand to press the dough together before rolling out.



• Most recipe meant for rolling out are not very tasty... as it requires a high percentage of four to provide the structure. Just as this one here - it also has a high percentage of flour, but the use of suji and ground almond add exceptional flavor... Certainly another keeper!

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As I have some leftover fondant, I thought of using it up. When HI saw it she decidedly insist to cover all her cookie with the fondant! *Sigh*

J reminded me I didn't even go thru such extend for our son's birthday!

Cookie Decorating for the Celebration

Apart from the birthday cake, i also baked a batch of cookie. The idea is to let the kids have some fun decorating their own "cupcake".



I have filled in the "cupcake liner", leaving the cupcake top for the kids to slap on the white icing, and add sprinkle as they wish.



These plain ones are for my sis who does not like the sweet cookies.

It is quite tiring having to roll, mold and bake these cookies but I enjoyed thoroughly! After all, my cutie is 1 year older liao!

Peanut Butter Cookie

I made a large batch of Peanut Butter cookie ... and I am getting bored eating the plain cookies. With the balance chocolate from the previous post, I am marrying the creamy choc frosting with the cookie.

The first and foremost thing to do is melting the chocolate, which I got quite tired of of standing next to the stove... now i see why Aunty Yochana bought the special machine for this purpose!






Instruction:

1. Melt White & dark Chocolate (of your choice) with 1 tsp of crisco (a veg shortening).


2. Spread the white choc over your cookies.


3. Pipe the dark chocolate over the white.


4. Run a toothpick across the dark lines to form the waves.

The dark choc harden very fast, and I didn't bother to soften it so in the end some of the choc lines are much thicker than others. It certainly takes patience to do things like these. :-)

Hell of a Halloween Time

Tired of all things Halloween? Bear with me, this is my last post to the run up of the eve of Halloween!

I baked these cookie using the Chocolate Cookie recipe by Toba Garrett, "Creative Cookie". Toba Garrett is one of those wonderful Manhatten pastry chefs whose cakes and cookies are well sought by the rich and famous. Well, who else could afford to pay US$15 for a 3" monogram cookie?

ME? No thanks, I will take the book.

I first saw this recipe in the book but took no heed until my gregarious course mate Freda raved about the recipe she got in the previous class. So when I received her email, I went "orhhhh..." Next, I got down to make the dough. She told me she refrigerate it overnight so that the cookie will maintain it's shape better - Thanks pal, it did as you could see from my cookies.




I used to think that the baking powder or soda will distort the cookie but went ahead to add it. A leap of faith, you can say. I wasn't disappointed. The cookie turned out well. Another advice Freda gave was to add choc chips - surprise for the kids. Hers loved it, and well, you see Bevis did!



Chocolate Cookie
1 c (230g) unsalted butter
2/3 c (150g) granulated sugar - I used 1/3 cup
1/3 c (75g) dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tbsp extra strong coffee or 1 tbsp choc liqueur - I used Kahlua
1/3 c (35g) dutch processed cocoa powder
3 c (336g) ap flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

1. Cream the butter and sugar together, add the egg and vanilla and blend well.


2. Add the powdered ingredients and blend into the butter mixture a bit at a time, blending well after each addition.


3. Divide the finished dough into two balls, and wrap one ball in plastic until ready to use.


4. Roll out the other ball on a floured surface to 1/4 inch. Cut out cookies using a knife or cookie cutter and remove cookies with a spatula to an ungreased, non-stick cookie sheet.


5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, taking care not to let the cookies brown. Jezzzz, i was stunned by this, the cookie IS brown!

Although the original recipe calls for use of a mixer, I made the dough by hand with a wooden spoon and was easy. As I mixed dough, I was caught eating the dough. Really aromatic and I bet you would be chomping away too! So pls stop that smirk now... *pout*

Royal Icing
500g confectioner's sugar
3 tablespoons of powdered egg white
5-6 tbsp of warm water

1. Beat them together, adding water very slowly, tablespoon by tablespoon until you have a fairly thick, pipable icing.
2. Divide the white icing into separate smaller bowls before adding colour paste. Pls check that you had the icing colours. The last round, I unknowningly bought the candy colours and was wondering why my icing melted to be unpipe-able. It was flowing out of my tip2 even without any pressure. Only much later that I realised that the candy colour is oil-based, which will break down the royal icing. Well, another lesson learnt!
   
3. Fit a pastry bag with a #3 tip, fill with the icing and have a little fun.

My plain dark Bat - work in progress:



A simple outline adds some liveliness:



Pumpkin. J said the H'ween pumpkin should have a evil face... I will do it next round.


Ghost. Bevis' avourite cos he could use his edible food marker to scribble his name on the cookie. This is like his canvas, when done, he'll eat up the mess.

Additional Icing Tips:

• When mixing the colours, pls make sure you mix enough icing for your cookie cos it would be very difficult to achieve the same colour subsequently.
• Also, cover your icing with an airtight lid when not in use. Remember it dries up fast!

My Wilton Cookie Kit

Following the earlier post of my new finds... here's this is my finished product:

I went down to the B-I-Y on a thursday evening cos I wanted to get 1 more set for my nieces to play play on weekend since their exams were just over. Becos of the jam I was there 7 sharp... sadly the store is closed liao.

Bye bye Toy!

Halloween Cookie House Kit

I first saw this prebaked halloween cookie house kit in Wilton's site... and was so excited that i started to search for local store carrying this. For US13.99, I was expecting to pay ~$22 in Singapore... you can imagine my jaws dropping when I saw this in B-I-Y for S$36!

Also I was a little disappointed when the store assistant didn't allow me to open up the pack to check if the cookie are in good condition. I supposed with the price I had to fork out, it was a fair request. In the end, I had to buy first, then open up on the spot to check the contents. If it broken or cracked, then I use the credit amount to buy something else. No cash refund! I guess this is the part where retail industry in Singapore has to improve on. In some countries, consumers are entitled to full refund for anything that didn;t meet their expectation =p

Fortunately it was all in good condition - the smart chaps in Wilton shrink-wrapped the cookie with a cardboard backing to withstand all the mishandlings. I was quite happy with my find, it has everything I need for the decoration:

- 10 pre-baked gingerbread house pieces

- orange and black decorating icing mixes,

- 1 ghost icing decoration,

- colorful candy (purple and orange mini round candies, jelly beans and candy corn),

- 2 decorating tips,

- 2 disposable decorating bags,

- cardboard base, complete assembly and decorating instructions.

I will post the pix after I get them assembled with my little boy.

If you care to make everything from scratch: here's where you can find the instruction:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipeID=34107&Source=SearchResultPage

Me? I am pure lazy!

Whacky Cookie

After completing the Wilton's Cookie Bouquet Workshop, I am hooked on cookie decor!

Am trying out my Wilton Stackable Bouquet Set:

This is another 3D stackable cookie design from the same Wilton's collection.


This is what i have done:


Complete with a no-eye bee:

Oops, should have brushed off the cookie crumbs first!


The cookie is quite big, about the size of your hand (yes I mean hand, not palm). Bevis' friends were attracted to the cookie when he munch them for breakfast!

My Cookie Garden

After 3 continuous nights of baking, finally, here's the results:



Starting from scratch... with this:


and this:


to:


Little Miss Spider. The leg breaks easily, haiz.


Caterpillar. I like this shade of green!


"Blindly" Busy Bee...


A gaint flower baked in a floral cookie pan.


Another flower... tribal style.


The classic lady bird. I ruined the icing when my itchy finger go touch touch. tsk.


Meet my gypsy lady bird, dressed in gum paste daisies which was bought from Phoon Huat.



Eggless Butter Cookie
The recipe given by the school is the rather standard roll-out butter cookie recipe which you will find almost everywhere; on the back of a cookie cutter pack, flour packaging, cookbook!
The only difference is I made making it eggless and omit the baking powder (cos I want the cookie to retain its shape).

230g butter
200g sugar
250g plain flour, sifted
40g corn starch
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160-170C.



2. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer or wooden spoon until light and fluffy.



3. Beat in vanilla essence.



4. Add flour mixture, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. The recipe says the dough should be stiff but mine was not. I thought I missed the measurement or what ... so I made another batch - it is a very soft dough, at least in my case.



5. If your dough is also soft like mine, refrigerate for few hours until it is hard enough for decent rolling and cutting.



6. Baked 20min or until it starts to brown on the edge.

A few baking tips that I picked up from this round of baking:

• Roll the dough directly onto the baking sheet or paper, cut out the cookie and remove the surplus around this. This method reduces the handling of the cookie dough, hence preserves the shape better, specially if you have cookie cutter with intricate design.



• Freezing helps the cookie to retain the shape better during baking.
  

This one is decorated with fondant. I find ready-to-use fondant a breeze to use. Just open the package, grab a blob, dab on the colour, knead, and voila, all ready!
So easy that even my 3-year-old used the balance fondant to make his own cookies:




Kathryn's (the course instructor) work:





When my other course mates send me their pix, I will update them here.