Guest Blogger, Matthew Prince: Cookies Like You Know What You're Doing

Today, I had the joy to have a guest blogger, my good friend Matt! 

He's gonna show us how to make sugar cookies. From scratch! That's right folks, so pay good attention. It's about to get messy. 

Check out his blog, Cook Like You Know What You're Doing.

There comes a time in every person’s life where the desire for sweets becomes overbearing. Instead of spending a ridiculous amount for store-bought cookies, let’s make some ourselves.

Cheaper, more fun to make, and by far better than the factory productions, this simple recipe for sugar cookies revolves heavily around my hero, Alton Brown and his sugar cookies, doctored a little bit to suit our needs as beginning cooks.

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups of All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Tablespoon of Baking Soda
• 1 Stick (8 tablespoons or ½ cup) Butter, unsalted
• A grand total of 1 ½ cups of sugar. You can use white or brown sugar, but I find a full cup of white sugar and ½ cup of brown makes the cookies soft, yet chewy, as opposed to all white sugar making the cookies fluffy, or all brown sugar making the cookies hard and chewy.
• 1 large egg, possibly 2 depending on the size of the eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, real or imitation extract, either works.

Supplies:

• Two large mixing bowls, preferably made out of microwave-safe material
• At least two 9x13 inch cookie sheets. You can use any size you like, but this recipe makes a fairly large batch, so make sure you have enough cookie sheet area to compensate.
• Either extra butter, non-stick spray, or some other oil to keep the cookies from sticking to the pan.
• A fork or a whisk, something to break up the butter in later stages
• A microwave (Optional, but helpful)
• An oven. I don’t plan to show you how to make cookies without an oven anytime soon, as I don’t know how to do it myself!
• A sheet of paper to write these instructions down. These can be as simple or as complex as you like, but as long as the message is still relayed.

Figure 1: Here’s my cheat sheet for sugar cookies.

Instructions:

1. The first step is to start pre-heating your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (about 190 Celsius). Make sure the lid to the oven is closed and you’re not fooling with the oven while it pre-heats. This step will save you time later after the dough has formed.

2. The next step to sugar cookies is to combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. This means taking the cups of flour and baking soda.  

Figure 2: Flour and Baking soda already inside.

3. Set the dry ingredients aside and get another bowl for the wet ingredients. This will include the egg, vanilla, butter, and either kind of sugar.
4. It’s at this stage you want to turn all the wet ingredients into as much of a liquid state as you can make it. This means either having room-temperature butter so it’s soft and easy to mold, or heating up the ingredients (Conveniently through a microwave). 

Figure 3: Butter

5. Add the egg, sugar, and vanilla with the butter and mix together well. You want to make the butter as smooth as possible before proceeding.

Figure 4: Vanilla, brown and white sugar 

Figure 4.1: You'll have chunks of butter in your mix. This is normal. Get them as small as you can before proceeding.

Figure 4.2: Your wet mix should look something like this when done.

6. Next, take the dry mix of ingredients and slowly mix them into the wet mix with your fork or whisk. You want to add small amounts of dry mixture at a time, as all-at-once tends to make a mess and doesn’t mix as well with the wet mix

Figure 5: You don't have to be precise with how much you add, just split the dosage.

7. Whip this mixture into a very smooth consistency, making sure to use all of the flour mixture you prepared earlier.

Figure 6: Looking good with your dough there!

This is what’s traditionally known as cookie dough, a delicasy eaten raw. While I find it delicious, know that the product has raw animal product (in this case, raw egg), and can make you sick due to the sickness inducing nature of raw food.

8. At this point in time, your oven should be just about done pre-heating and ready to bake the cookie dough into actual sugar cookies. What we’ll need to do at this point is to line a cookie sheet with our dough.

9. The first and only step to preparing the cookie sheets for their sweet visitor is oiling the pans so the cookies don’t stick. I’m rather lazy during this process and use aerosol cooking spray. Anything like this or a light layer of an oil (butter, margerine, olive oil works too, but tastes strange).

Figure 7: Spray away!

10. You want to grease the pan enough so the cookies will not stick to it. Likewise, you don’t want to add so much grease that the pan drips of oil and oil-like products. Use your best judgement when oiling the pan.

11. Once your pan(s) have been properly lubricated, it’s time to shape your cookie dough into cookies. You can shape cookies into specific shapes with cookie cutters, but for round cookies, make balls of dough with your hands.

How much dough per cookie, you ask? Well, that depends on how large you like your cookies, and how many cookies you want to end up with at the end of the day. In my personal experience, a scoop from a teaspoon makes good portions for a large batch of small cookies.

Figure 8: This is about the correct size for small cookies.

12. Take the teaspoon portion of dough and create a ball of dough with your hands. The ball doesn’t need to be a perfect sphere, just rounded enough so it will hold its shape on its own. Place each ball on the cookie sheet, allowing about half an inch of room to bake by itself. Make sure you give each cookie space to bake, otherwise the cookies will melt into each other, making a very large, sweet mess. 

Figure 9: Spreed out cookies - You're doing it right. 

13. Once finished spreading the cookies onto the cookie sheet, you can either place them in the oven now or do a technique known as “Scoring.” Scoring makes lines on baked products for various purposes. Should you put scoring marks on today’s cookies, your cookies will not puff up as much compared to without score marks.

14. To score your cookies, take a fork and gently press against the ball of the cookie until you can see the dough squeeze through the cracks of the fork. You can stop here, or add another set of marks at perpendicular intersections, making a grid pattern. Do this for all/some/none of the cookies, it’s all your preference at this point. 

Figure 10: Score it good!

15. Once you have scored your cookies (or not), they’re ready to go into the oven. Place them on the metal rack, but BE CAREFUL. All metal in the oven will be painfully hot, so wear protection before, during, and after baking.

Figure 11: Scored cookies straight into the oven.

16. Close the lid and set your local timer for seven to ten minutes. Baking time is approximated here due to various elements (namely location, altitude, weather, how much baking soda went into the cookies, etc.)

Figure 12: I like to start with seven minutes and increase time as I need it. 

17. When the timer goes off, check on your cookies. You’ll know they’re done when they’ve changed color from a pasty white to a golden brown. Also, if you scored your cookies, you’ll see the individual lines clearly against the cookie. If none of these signs have occured, close the lid and let the cookies bake for another 2-3 minutes.

Figure 13: Cookies on the left pan still need a few more minutes. Cookies on the right are almost done, but will go with the left pan for a few more minutes.

Figure 13.1: Done! Look at those sugar cookies!

18. When you see the golden brown tinge on your cookies, take them out of the oven with proper hand protection and let them cool off in a dry, open place for ten to fifteen minutes. Once cooled... well, that part should be obvious, right? EAT!

Serving and Decorating:These cookies go really well with other desserts. Try adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of two to three cookies for a sweet treat that’s hard to beat.

Good Luck!

-M

Interview with a Professional Baker: Amna Haq

Today, I had the utmost pleasure to interview an amazingly talented professional baker, Amna Haq. Baking and cooking is one of her biggest passions. Read about her favorite things to bake, her opinion on baking from scratch, and her overall baking life!

Q: What do you do?
A: Baking and cooking is my passion. However a few things I truly take pride in are cupcakes, cakes and cake balls. I experiment and create many goodies with fondants, royal icing, chocolate and more. I cater baking goods to many events like baby showers, bridal showers, weddings, and birthdays.


Q: What is your specialty in dessert-making/baking?
A: My specialty in dessert-making is cupcakes of all different flavors and themes.


Q: On average how many hours a day do you bake?
A: On average I bake about an hour a day unless I have a catering offer, then it's nearly 12-24.


Q:What’s the easiest thing to bake?
A: Easiest thing to bake in my opinion would be cookies. 


Q:What’s your favorite thing to bake?
A: My favorite thing to bake are cupcakes and to top them off with creative fondant pieces. 


Q: I always feel like it’s very inconvenient to bake from scratch. Is there really a difference between store bought cake mix, and
making your own?
A: A major difference, indeed. There is nothing in this world better than a home made cake made from scratch. Quite frankly it's as easy as a box cake. Of course box cakes are fool proof and always come out perfectly, however manage to have a after taste which I nor my clients would enjoy too much. Cakes made from scratch are free of preservatives, taste much, much better and are not as intimidating as it seems. 

Q: How would you exactly make a cake mix?
A: One of the most important techniques and rule in cake-making is pre- heating your oven to the correct temperature. A good cake usually starts off with creaming butter and sugar and adding wet ingredients, such as eggs. Then come along your dry ingredients and add-ins like choco chips, dried fruits and nuts. There a many different types of cakes I make. For example you have your basic American cake recipe, then you can add a more European touch which I personally love such as a sponge or chiffon cake. 


Q: What is the most basic recipe that you can give verbatim?
A: This is the easiest cake recipe one could make.

Plain Butter cake- Substitute the fruit with any fruit ingredient you like. 
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons sour cream (if you don’t have sour cream I have also substituted yogurt for it)
3/4 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1 cup banana, mashed- Or 1/2 of FRESH orange juice with 1 tbsp of orange zest
1 1/2 cups pastry or cake flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Add eggs, beaten very lightly.

3. Then, add the baking soda, dissolved in with the sour cream.

4. Beat well, then add bananas (or any fruit/nuts)

5. Sift the flour into the batter

6. Lastly add 1/4 teaspoon salt and vanilla.

7. Bake in a well greased loaf pan, 7-1/4 x 11-1/4 x 1-1/2 inch, in 350°F oven.Bake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Notes: My fav combination is the “Orange” one! I’ve made this on several occasions and basically anything works well with it. I also use this recipe with my cupcakes. Have fun!

Oil Based Cake:

ingredients

2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 stick of margarine/butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Method:

1 For the cake, put 2 cups sugar, 1 cup oil, and 4 eggs in a large bowel. Mix well on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
2 Add in: 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix for a couple of minutes at a medium speed. Then fold in 3 cups grated carrots (do not mix more than necessary).
3 Bake at 350 degrees, either 55 minutes for cake (makes 2 eight inch single layer cakes)or 40 minutes to make muffins.
4 For the Cream Cheese Frosting, mix 1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese (room temperature), 1 stick of margarine/butter (not “spread”). Then, add 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Next, fold in 1/3 cup chopped pecans (or, I usually just put these on the cake once it’s frosted).
5 Let the cake or muffins cool completely before you begin to frost them!

Oil based cakes are much lighter than butter based cakes. Enjoy! 


Q: What are some of the best tools and techniques for cake design?
A: Piping bags and cookie cutters! My favorite piping bag has a permanent star tip and is from Ateco. I enjoy playing with cookie cutters and often use them for my fondant shapes.

Q: What is your biggest drawback in dessert making?
A: CLEANUP! I dislike the cleanup part very much. Otherwise, it is a passion of mine and something you love and desire, I believe doesn't have drawbacks.

Chocolate Chip Oreo Stuffed Cookies

You read that correctly. An Oreo inside a chocolate chip cookie. This was such an easy, fun (but messy) dessert to make!

(Amy, 2011)

Ingredients

• Chocolate chip cookie dough (I'm using Betty Crocker's mix)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of butter or margarine (I used low-fat margarine for healthy reasons)
• 2 teaspoons of water
• Oreo cookies (can be double stuffed)

Supplies

• Baking pan or cookie sheet (If you're using a baking pan, make sure you lay out aluminum foil to the bottom of the pan.)
• Oven
• Mixing bowl
• Utensils to mix cookie dough (fork or whisk)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F (or  350°F for dark or nonstick cookie sheet).
2. Stir the cookie dough mix, butter, egg, and two teaspoons of water thoroughly until the powder is invisible.
                                        
3. Get about a teaspoon and a half of the cookie dough, and place it on top of an Oreo cookie.
   
   
   
   
4. Set the oreo cookie down (on the side of where you just applied the dough) and add another teaspoon and a half on top. The Oreo cookie should almost be invisible, sandwiched between two coatings of cookie dough. 
5. Set the cookies on the tray about 3 inches apart so they don't combine. Remember that cookie dough inflates when it's baked.
   
   
   
   
6. Place your cookie in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes, and no longer. The cookies can easily harden if they are in the oven any longer.

Serving and Decorating

• These don't even need to be served or garnished in a special way. They're already the stars of the show! But you can still never go wrong with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream. 
• The best results will come out after eating them freshly out of the oven because the dough will be chewy, and the chocolate chips will gracefully melt into your mouth.
• These will be famous with all ages! Just make sure they don't harden. 

Enjoy! 

Be sure to comment, ask questions, or leave suggestions below. 

Sources:
Amy - Very Culinary (2011, March 22). Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. Retrieved from http://veryculinary.com/2011/03/22/oreo-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/