I was skeptical about these cookies.  I usually don’t like cookies with a lot of spice (and I definitely am not a fan of ginger), but I decided to make them anyway after seeing the Martha Stewart recipe on Lovin’ from the Oven. They just looked so chewy!

My cookies … did not turn out so chewy.  I made the batter the night before the Christmas party, but ran low on time the day of and had Khris roll the dough and bake the cookies while I got ready. I guess I forgot to mention a few things to him.  I.e. rolling the dough into 1″ balls instead of 2″, to refrigerate the remaining dough while waiting for the first batch to bake, and to periodically check on the cookies so as to not over bake.

But, despite the fact that cookies were bigger, flatter, and less chewy than intended – they were freakin’ good (ginger and all)! Bin downed four before the cookies even hit the table.  I pretty much inhaled whatever was left and was actually disappointed when I found the cookie plate empty one morning.

Martha Stewart, I think I love you.

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
via Martha Stewart
Makes 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Roll dough into 2-inch balls; place 2 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll dough balls in granulated sugar and return to baking sheets. Transfer to oven and bake until surfaces crack slightly, about 18 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

The Egg Nog Cupcake were by far the favorite dessert hands down at the Christmas Party last week. I loved these! The only thing I would do differently would be to leave out the cinnamon stick  (the one used for decor) – people tried to eat it!

Eggnog Cupcakes
via Baking Bites
makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup dark rum or bourbon
1 cup soy eggnog
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
scant 1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly ground
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
2. In a small bowl, mix together rum, eggnog, vegetable oil, vinegar and vanilla.
3. In a large bowl, mix together nutmeg, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Pour in rum mixture and whisk until just combined.
5. Divide evenly into muffin tins (a 1/4 cup measure is a good tool for this).
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.Cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Eggnog Frosting

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter or nonhydrogenated shortening, softened
3 tbsp soy eggnog (or regular)
2 tbsp rum
generous pinch of nutmeg, freshly ground
2+ cups confectioners’ sugar
coarse sugar for “rims”

Directions:

1. Cream together butter/nonhydrogenated shortening (depending on whether you want the frosting vegan or not), eggnog, rum, nutmeg and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Add in more sugar if needed to make frosting stiff, but spreadable.
2. Spread on cupcakes and garnish with a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon.

The Christmas Party went well! The condo was cleaned (a.k.a. shove all miscellaneous objects into bedroom), the cookies baked (fresh out of the oven), and the finger foods were prepped and on the table by the time the first guests arrived. Success!

But, more about the party later. Let’s talk cookie. The Peppermint Meltaway Cookie.

The Peppermint Meltaway Cookies were one of the first things I decided had to be on the party menu. They’re  cute, they’re festive, they’re supposed to melt in your mouth!  And, they did. They should have probably also come with a disclaimer: Avoid sticking entire cookie into mouth; Keep large glass of water nearby.

But despite having had to down an entire glass of H2O after eating one of these babies,  they weren’t all that bad (I mean, the recipe did win a prize or two via Taste of Home). The cookies were like a peppermint shortbread cookie, and they were cute. Perhaps you should bake and stick a batch of these next to your party beverages .

Peppermint Meltaways
(via Taste of Home Holiday Christmas Cookies)
makes about 3-1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

For cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1-1/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

Frosting:
2 T butter, softened
1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 T milk
1/4 peppermint extract
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the extract. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2. Shape into 1-in balls. Place 2 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees  for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

3. In a small bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, milk, extract and food coloring if desired; beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cookies; sprinkle crushed cndies. Store in airtight container.

But, not to worry ~ there are plenty of posts lined up! Khris and I are hosting A Christmas Party for A Christmas Project this upcoming Thursday (a small gathering to collect winter items for Bhutanese refugees here in Houston) and there will be an array of little treats to be made and eaten.

Here’s a preview of the list of goodies to come:

Peppermint Bark
Marshmallow S’mores pops
Peppermint Meltaways
Chocolate Molasses Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Gingerbread House
Eggnog Cupcakes
Peppermint Cupcakes

The kitchen is a mess. The internet is down at home (again. whyAT&Twhy??).  But recipes / pictures will be posted soon! Really. Promise.

I received my issue of  Taste of Home Holiday: Christmas Cookies & Candies last Friday and I couldn’t wait to try out the recipes! I made these Peanut Butter Cookies the very next day for the Texas v. Nebraska game (hook em’ horns!). As promised, these cookies were both moist and chewy!

Fancy Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes about 7 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3-1/2 cup AP flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream the shortening, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
2. Roll into 1-in balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks.

Again, making 7 dozen of the same cookie seemed boring, so I divided the dough into thirds and added a little something to each. I left 1/3 of the batter as regular peanut butter, added chocolate chips to 1/3 of the batter, and banana to the final portion. For the Peanut Butter Banana Cookie, I added 1/2 of a banana and 2 T more of flour so that the consistency of the dough was more consistent with the initial batter. I found that the banana cookies turned out more moist and chewy than the others, but the banana flavor was pretty over powering. I did like it though and the addition of walnuts would have made these little cookies like bite size banana bread bites!

The original recipe included frosting, which I skipped completely. I think the cookies stand well on their own, but if you want  to try out the frosting – the recipe is below. Happy baking!

Frosting

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup peanut butter
4 cups confectioners sugr
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Dash of salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening, peanut butter, and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in milk, vanilla and salt until smooth. Frost cookies. Combine melted chips and milk; drizzle over frosting.

Note: Reduced fat and generic brands of peanut butter not recommended for this recipe

This Thanksgiving I learned:

(1) Older Asian people are really not that into pie
(2) They don’t appreciate the concept of fruit dip

Mental note to self for next year:  fresh fruit and sponge cake.

But with that said, thank you, Joy the Baker for your Apple Pie tutorial! I have never once successfully made pie crust from scratch until I found you. Sure, there were moments of panic and moments when I felt I was being overly ambitious for even attempting this pie (“why, why did I decide to make pie?!!”), but you… you guided me through (with pictures and all). And because of you, I had a delicious apple pie to bring to dinner ^_^ So, thank you, Joy.  xoxo

Thursday, January 12, 2008

Practically every afternoon for the past two years I’ve donated a quarter a day to our local, friendly vending machine. And it has served me well. It has never once failed to dutifully provide me (and countless co-workers) with caffeinated goodness day after day.

Then three months ago it began running low on sodas.

This past month was the worst. There is usually a hierarchy of drink selection. The first to go is always the guilt-free Diet Coke followed by the regular Coca Cola, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, etc until it trickles down to the stuff we wonder why is even still in existence – the Big Red and the Welch’s Grape Juice. Now when even those are gone – you know there’s a problem.

Panic spread through the office – Where were our sodas? When will the machine be filled?

The days came and went and our machine sat empty.

Then Monday morning we looked out into the hall and the vending machine man was here! We cheered (really, we did) and then our cheers turned into concern – wait, was he taking our machine away??

Horror.

We bombarded HR with questions of when our machine would return. No answer. We made plans to buy a mini fridge for our department.

Rumors swirled about why the vending machine was taken away. Some said the vending machine was being removed because “we didn’t drink enough soda” for the vending machine company to make money. There were also rumors that our HR department forgot to pay the bill for our vending machine. Anger.

Then today, two agonizing weeks later, a new and improved (and more expensive) machine has arrived!

…

[4:13:05 PM] Coworker: when i passed the new soda machine it almost brought tears to my eyes. ;(
[4:13:14 PM] Me: why is that?
[4:13:43 PM] Coworker: because it was so beautiful to see it again. lol

…

And all was well again.

Where?? Where, I ask. I must have more!

Asia Market, she said. A tiny hole in the wall grocery store slash restaurant in the Heights. It was the only Asian market in the area, so one day she decided to stop in to see what she could find. The first time she was there, all she wanted was to not be there. The place was small and dark; the windows were completely blocked off. Talk about a hole in the wall.

She never went back.

That is, until one day a Thai co-worker of Elaine’s took their boss out for Thai food. The boss came back with rave reviews. Elaine was perplexed, “Asia Market? Are we talking about the same small, dingy Asia market?” Apparently, the mini-market slash restaurant was under new management. The place is still a hole in the wall, but at least there is light! Elaine was happy (and safe).

Then, she discovered the curry puffs. Now we are all happy. So, so happy.

//Other note worthy dishes include the Pad Se Ew, Panang Curry, and Seafood Pad Khing . All of the dishes boast a strong basil flavor and when you tell them spicy – they make it spicy (Awesome).

Asia Market
1010 W Cavalcade St Ste D
Houston, TX 77009
www.asiamarket-hou.com