Cookie Commerce

Ever since I started blogging about cookies my friends and family have been telling me to start a cookie business. Sure it sounds good, but I'm not sure it's something I want to do on a full-time basis. Sometimes hobbies are just hobbies. I'm afraid that if I'm forced to bake cookies it won't be fun any longer and I'm not sure I want to risk it. But on the other hand, I enjoy baking and that should count for something, right?

When my friend Ali asked me to make angel cut out cookies for her son's baptism this weekend I thought it might be a good time to test my theory. Can I bake cookies, deliver on time, make some money, and still have fun doing it? The answer to these questions are yes, yes, yes, and maybe. Let me explain.

After Ali and I decided on angel cookies I asked, "how many do you need?" After a slight hesitation she said, "Um, how about fifty?" Her voice raised a few octaves when she said fifty. I said "sure," no problem. The voice inside my head screamed "PROBLEM!" I had never made fifty, hand-cut, hand-iced cookies before. Ever. I had no idea how long it would take or how much ingredients I would need. But I had a few weeks to figure the details out and I was up for the challenge. I made a test batch using a new sugar cookie recipe but didn't like how the cookies puffed up, essentially taking most of the detail out of the design. My sister-in-law Tammy suggested using her no-fail Martha recipe which I tried and was pleased with the results. I calculated that I would need to make three batches of dough.

Over the course of two days I rolled dough and cut the cookies individually around a cardboard angel template which my mom drew many years ago. I carefully placed each angel on the cookie sheet and made last minute adjustments to the head or wing as needed. I was obsessing about each cookie. After all, this was my first foray into cookie making for profit.

Next I iced a few just to test my skills. For the wings, I decided on white icing sprinkled with white sanding sugar. For the body, a baby blue. For the hair, a light brown. I tried peach colored icing for the face, but decided it looked like the angel had a bad spray tan. It was best to not ice the face at all. I dabbed a spot of blue icing for the eye and tried bit of brown icing for the lips which ended up looking like a mustache. In the end I went with a pink icing for the lips, keeping the face details to a minimum.

Tammy also recommended that I use plastic squeeze bottles to apply the royal icing which I did and which worked beautifully. Once I got going, the process moved along and I enjoyed being a human assembly line. My angels began to multiply like rabbits in springtime and soon my counters and table were brimming with angel cookies.

Finished Cookies















Mother nature threw in a challenge of her own by turning up the humidity which caused the cookies to absorb the moisture in the air. The result was very soft cookies which were good for eating, but not good for icing and transporting. I cranked up the A/C and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, a few of the angels succumbed to the humidity and lost their heads as I picked them up to put the finishing touches on them. But fortunately, I had made extras and had just enough.

Headless Angels













The last challenge was getting the delicate cookies packed and delivered to Ali's apartment on the east side of Manhattan. I packed the cookies in various department store boxes since they were sturdy enough to carry the weight of the cookies. With the cookies carefully packed and layered with wax paper, I set off to Ali's apartment on East 45th Street. I was carrying two canvas bags, one needed to be kept flat and which I set on my lap during the subway ride. The other was held by my free hand. Just as the train pulled into Times Square it jerked unexpectedly and the man standing near me fell onto the man sitting two people away from me. The fall wasn't just a slip or a bump. It was a full-fledged, flat on your face, head first, ass over teakettle (to quote my mom) kind of fall. The six foot tall man landed squarely and firmly onto the guy near me with enough force to knock off his glasses. Had I been sitting there, just three feet to my left, the cookies would have been destroyed. Whew. That was close. I transferred to the shuttle over to Grand Central and then hauled the cookies through the masses of commuters. I was bobbing and weaving like a prizefighter. I reached my destination with the cookies intact.

Ali was delighted with the cookies as was her son, Vincenzo.

And so ends the story of my first professional cookie baking project. Stressful? Somewhat. Rewarding? Certainly. Would I do it again? You bet.

Here are the recipes I used for the sugar cookies and icing as well as a few tips when working with royal icing.

Sugar Cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, unsalted
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Add flour mixture, mixing on low until thoroughly combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, separating into two equal sized pieces. Chill for 30 minutes or overnight.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough on lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut into desired shapes and transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until edges brown slightly. Cool on wire racks.

Royal Icing

3 tablespoons meringue powder (available at baking supply stores or at Michael's Crafts)
1 lb sifted confectioners' sugar (it's important to sift the sugar!)
5 - 6 tablespoons warm water
1 teaspoon flavoring such as vanilla, lemon, orange, or almond extract (optional)

Combine all ingredients and mix with an electric mixer 5 to 6 minutes on low speed. Scrape sides of bowl as necessary. Divide icing into smaller bowls an add food coloring one drop at a time until desired color is reached.

Keep icing covered with a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the icing so it doesn't dry out.

The goal is to make the consistency thin for making outlines but not too thin so it runs (like a glaze). It should be firm enough to hold its shape. Add water or additional confectioners' sugar to thin or thicken. Fill plastic squeeze bottle or pastry bag fitted with #2 tip and outline the cookie.

To fill inside the outline, add water to existing icing or make a new batch, adding water as needed to create a glaze-like icing (it should be a little on the thick side). Again, fill pastry bag or squeeze bottle with icing and fill in the outlines. Add sanding sugar or decorations as desired. Icing will spread and fill in any empty holes.

Tips for Success:

1. Use a toothpick to scrap any extra icing off of the cookie. This works well to smooth out the area where your outline begins and ends. You can also wet your finger and gently press to close the seam.

2. Use a toothpick to apply small icing details.

3. Always keep icing covered when not using. Any dried pieces will clog the pastry bag tip.

4. When creating the outline, hold the tip slightly above the cookie and let it fall gently.

5. The squeeze bottles are easier to use than the pastry bag and tip.

6. Allow outlines to fully dry before flooding.

7. Practice makes perfect.

Chocolate-Marshmallow Treats

Even the thought of turning on my oven when the temps climb to over 90 degrees makes me start to sweat. Tiny droplets form on my upper lip and I feel like someone is holding a lit match to my skin.

Oppressively hot weather causes a problem for bakers since baking usually requires the oven to be on for periods of longer than twenty minutes. If you're baking a few batches of cookies or prefer to bake one sheet at a time like I do, your oven could be on for well over an hour which either means your A/C is working overtime or your kitchen temperature rises to something feeling like hell.

To combat the steamy kitchen syndrome, or SKS as I like to call it, I went in search of some no-bake cookie recipes. I found some on Martha's website and while I don't classify these as cookies, they will do in a pinch to satisfy a summer sweet tooth.

This recipe for Chocolate-Marshmallow Treats is prepared on the stove top using a single burner for about 6 - 7 minutes. The treats remind me of the Rice Krispie Treats I used to make as a kid, with Mom's help of course. Martha has kicked it up a notch by adding dutch-processed cocoa powder to the marshmallows and bittersweet chocolate on the top.

I liked these because I could really taste the deep chocolate flavor and they didn't seem overly sweet to me. Mike enjoyed them too, but he said the crisps looked like lentils. As usual, he's right. I couldn't get Rice Krispies at Whole Foods, so I substituted with the Whole Foods, 365 Organic brand of Brown Rice Crisps which do in fact resemble lentils.

Crispy Chocolate-Marshmallow Treats

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 bag (10 1/2 ounces) mini-marshmallows
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
6 cups crisp rice cereal
1 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Line bottom of and 8 or 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang. If using foil, spray lightly with non-stick spray.

In a large saucepan (approx. 4 qt.) combine butter, marshmallows, and cocoa. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until melted, about 6 minutes. Sir in rice cereal. Press rice mixture into prepared pan. Wetting fingers with cold water will allow you to combat the stickiness of the marshmallows. Re-wet fingers as needed.

Drizzle with melted chocolate. Let cool to room temperature. Cut into 16 bars.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Variations:
Add 1/2 cup of dried fruit such as cranberries or cherries.
Crush up peppermint candies or add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract.

Melting Marshmallows on the Stovetop















Cookie press rating: 3.5 cookies (out of 5)

Some other no-bake cookie recipes:

Peanut-Butter Granola Bars

Coconut-Pecan Cereal Bars

Coconut-Chocolate Patties

Lemon-Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

Every workplace or neighborhood has them. You know the type. The overzealous gardener who planted too many seeds and now has tons of these lovely green and/or yellow cylindrical objects to get rid of before they rot. I call these people "zucchini pushers" because they seem to pop up from out of nowhere and insist that you take a few. But a few is not a few. It's usually several. Or to put it another way, more than you could ever use in a lifetime. But you take them because after all, they're free and you don't want hurt feelings. Little do you know your friend, neighbor or co-worker is probably laughing at you and saying to their spouse or significant other, "I unloaded a bunch more today honey!"

I've always wondered why I'm never offered the good stuff like vine-ripened tomatoes or corn. The stuff that costs a fortune at the farmer's market. Corn is sixty-five cents an ear this year and I've seen tomatoes as high at $3.99 per pound. No, I just seem stuck with tons of zucchini.

Once you bake a few loaves of zucchini bread what else is there to make? A quick search of the internet yielded recipes for zucchini cake, zucchini cobbler (yes, cobbler!), zucchini with pasta, and zucchini fritters. But what about cookies? Does a recipe for zucchini cookies even exist? It didn't take too much effort to find this recipe for Lemon-Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies from Everyday Food. And with a zucchini in the fridge just begging to be used, there was no time to waste.

The good news is that you need only one medium sized zucchini in these cookies. The bad news is that you need only one medium sized zucchini, unless you double the batch in which case you'll need two. Chances are you probably have three or four still waiting in the wings and a neighbor who just can't wait to bump into you so he or she can offer you more.

I was expecting these cookies to be terrible. Much to my surprise they were actually worse than terrible. They were dreadful. The texture was rubbery, dense, and didn't taste like zucchini at all. The lemon zest did give the cookie some much needed flavor.

Perhaps I should have followed the directions exactly as written and used a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients. Instead, I used my Mixmaster and perhaps I over mixed the dough. That would explain the rubbery texture but it still doesn't explain the lack of flavor.

So while I admit I may have blundered when making these cookies, I still can't wholeheartedly recommend them. In case you want to try these and judge for yourself, here's the recipe. If you look on the bright side, you'll have one less zucchini to throw away. Or you may throw it away in cookie form!

Lemon-Zucchini Cornmeal Cookies

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon packed finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1 medium zucchini, grated on small holes of a box grater (about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until mixture becomes crumbly. Add zucchini and stir until a thick dough forms.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are light golden brown around the edges, 25 to 30 minutes. Rotate sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 25 cookies.

Cookie press rating: 1 cookie (out of 5)


Grating the Zucchini














The Soft Dough

Butterscotch Blondies

My sweet tooth was acting up last week so I decided to satisfy it with a fresh batch of Butterscotch Blondies. The butterscotch chips and brown sugar combine to make these on the sweet side. Some of you will find these to be to bit too sweet. In small doses I think they're quite good.

I decided to see what Wikipedia had to say about Blondies, but was disappointed to find no information as to the origin of these treats. The entry did explain that sometimes the bars contain white or chocolate chips, but that the dominant flavor comes from the brown sugar and often there is no butterscotch in them at all. Who knew? I guess I did learn something from the Wikipedia entry after all.

I'd love to hear your comments on these cookies. Please email me at: tleader @ nyc . rr . com . Close up all the spaces in the address so that it reads like a normal email address. I'm trying to outsmart the spammers who automatically collect email address from websites to feed their lists. You can also leave comments on the bottom of this entry.

Happy baking.

Butterscotch Blondies

1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 9 x 9 inch baking pan with foil and spray bottom only with cooking spray.

Mix together the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla.
Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl, then stir them into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in butterscotch chips.

Pour into pan. Rap pan on counter to remove air bubbles and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Cool in pan set on a wire rack.

Remove from pan when completely cool and cut into squares.

Cookie press rating: 3 cookies (out of 5)

Peanut Butter Cookies

WARNING: May contain peanuts.
This is a phrase that I see all the time now in the most obvious places. Yes, I understand that peanut butter cookies contain peanuts. I also understand that my peanut granola bar contains peanuts. That's why I bought it. I also know that my hot cup of coffee is hot. I don't need a disclaimer on the cup to tell me so. Before everyone gets crazy on me, I do understand that peanut allergies are serious and I do feel bad for anyone who can't have peanuts or who have serious food allergies.

Now to the cookies ...

I made these for my friend Karen, who is going through a rough time after recently losing her husband. Today I received a thank you note from Karen which said "You can bake! The cookies are fantastic." Funny. That's what I thought went I tasted them too. I sure hope they lift Karen's spirits.

This recipe comes from the America's Test Kitchen's Family Cookbook.

The key here is to supplement the peanut butter with real, salted dry roasted peanuts to create tons of peanut flavor. The other key is to make the cookies BIG! This helps them retain their chewiness. One cookie at a time is really all you need. These babies are filling. And with an ice cold glass of milk on a hot day, these are simply the best.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, gently packed
1 cup sugar
1 cup extra crunchy peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup salted peanuts, chopped fine

Heat oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder together in a large bowl and set aside.

Beat butter and sugars together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Beat in peanut butter, about 30 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl.

Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add flour mixture until just combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chopped peanuts.

Roll dough to form balls using about 3 tablespoons of dough for each. Place on baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Using a fork dipped in cold water, gently press down on each ball twice to create the crosshatch pattern.

Bake until the edges are golden, 10 - 12 minutes. If baking more than one pan at a time, rotate pans halfway through baking.

Cool cookies on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Cookie press rating: 5 cookies (out of five)

Accordion Cookies

I had never heard of Accordion Cookies before I received this recipe from one of my faithful blog readers. The foil is folded like the paper fans we all used to make in grammar school on the final days of school in June when it was blistering hot and no one was thinking about learning anything, except the way to the town pool.

The dough is easy to make. The recipe calls for walnuts, but you could use pecans, hazelnuts chopped fine, or almonds. Try substituting nuts for dried cranberries or add a little lemon zest to give the cookies a new twist.

Spoon the dough into each fold being sure not to overdo it. As the dough cooks, it spreads quite a lot into a cookie that looks very much like biscotti. The outer layer is crisp while the inside is soft, creating a nice juxtaposition of textures.

These cookies would be fun to make on a rainy afternoon with your kids or grand kids. Top each scoop of dough with sprinkles or M&M's for a fun and tasty treat.

I really like these cookies because they are fun to make and they taste great to boot. They freeze well and hold their interesting "V" shape. I gave my friend Victor a few and he called them "remarkable" and limited his friend Eileen to only three before cutting her off! Don't worry Victor, the recipe makes enough to share without limits.

And thanks to Deb J. for sending me the recipe. I love to try new cookies so if you have a recipe, send it along to my email address which is listed in the About Me section of this blog.

Cookie press rating: 3.75 cookies (out of five)


Accordion Cookies

Ingredients
2 sheets (approx. 1 yard) heavy-duty foil
1 1/2 sticks butter (softened)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1) Heat oven to 325°F. Fold 1 sheet of foil in half lengthwise. Then fold the double thickness foil crosswise into 1-inch pleats to make an accordion-pleated pan. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with second sheet of foil. Spray foil lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

2) In large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour and salt; mix well. Stir in walnuts. Drop rounded teaspoonful of dough into catch of foil. (Dough spreads during baking to form 2 1/2 to 5-inch long cookies)

3) Bake for 18 to 26 minutes or until golden brown. Remove cookies from foil and cool completely on rack.

4) Turn foil over for second baking. Repeat with second sheet of foil.

If desired, baked cookies can be sprinkled with powdered sugar or frosted with a powdered sugar glaze.

Dough Prior to Baking













Gently Remove Cooled Cookies With a Butter Knife














The Final Product

Lemon Bars

No cookie screams summer more than lemon bars. The cool lemon filling all shiny and smooth set atop a crisp layer of a shortbread-like cookie instantly cools my body temperature a few degrees and increases my energy level. Okay, it's probably the sugar in the cookie that energizes my body, but my spirit is energized too. The dog days of summer have met their match.

To find a surefire recipe for lemon bars I went right to my fail-safe baking cookbook from Cook's Illustrated. Baking Illustrated is filled with tons of kitchen-tested recipes which turn out perfect pies, cakes, tarts, cookies and provide lots of instruction on how and why to follow certain procedures while baking. It's not a flashy book filled with color photos, but it's a book no serious baker should be without.

The recipe is a bit challenging since it requires several steps to make the lemon curd filling. For me the most difficult step was timing the filling so it was done at the same time the crust comes out of the oven. I juiced and zested the lemons and separated the eggs ahead of the time with help from my mom. My problem was that the lemon curd was ready almost 10 minutes before the crust was finished baking. To slow the process I turned down the flame under the lemon curd and hoped for the best. It worked out okay in the end but I probably would have browned the crust a bit more before I poured the filling on top.

This recipe calls for a thermometer to get the curd temperature just right and a fine mesh sieve to strain the curd. You can probably do without the thermometer by just following the cooking time listed in the recipe, but the fine mesh sieve is a must if you want a smooth lemon filling. And trust me, you do.

I served the lemon squares as dessert after a meal of hamburgers done to perfection on the grill with a corn and black bean salad. The lemon bars were magical. A buttery crust topped with a layer of silky lemon filling which made my lips pucker ever so slightly. My dad absolutely loved them, saying how they were delicious. My mom called them outstanding. And Mike called them light and delectable. My only complaint is that the recipe makes only 16 squares. I guess that's a good thing because I'd end up eating far too many. Try serving them with fresh blueberries.

If you have a favorite summer cookie, let me know. I'd love to hear what comes to your mind when you think about cookies in the summertime.

Lemon Bars

Crust
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus additional for dusting bars
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened but cool

Filling
7 large egg yolks, plus 2 large eggs
1 cup plus two tablespoons granulated sugar
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice from 4 or 5 lemons plus 1/4 cup lemon zest, finely grated
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces
1 tablespoons heavy cream

Make the Crust: Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Fold 2 pieces of foil to measure 9 inches wide. Fit 1 sheet into bottom of pan overlapping the sides about 2 inches. Repeat with second sheet so that sides hang over all four sides of pan. If foil is very thin, double up so that it won't rip when removing the lemon squares from the pan. Spray the foil with cooking spray or use non-stick foil.

Unbaked Crust














Place the flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt in a food processor and process briefly. Add the butter and process to blend, 8 to 10 seconds, then process until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal, about three, 1 second pulses. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly with your fingers into an even layer over the entire pan bottom. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While crust is cooling in the refrigerator, start preparing ingredients for the filling, but do not cook filling until crust is baking. The warm filling must be added to the warm crust.

Separate eggs, juice lemons, zest lemons, and measure sugar.

Egg Yolks













Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake crust until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Make the Filling: In a medium, nonreactive bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and whole eggs until combined, about 5 seconds. Add the granulated sugar and whisked until just combined, about 5 seconds. Add the lemon juice, zest, and salt and whisk until combined, about 5 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a medium, nonreactive saucepan, add butter pieces, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until curd thickens into a sauce-like mixture registering 170 degrees on an instant- read or candy thermometer, about 5 minutes. Immediately pour the curd through a fine mesh strainer set over a clean bowl. Force curd through strainer with wooden spoon. Be sure to scrape excess curd from the bottom of the strainer into the bowl. Take a taste. It's delicious! Stir in heavy cream and then pour curd into the warm crust immediately.

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until the curd is shiny and the center jiggles slightly when shaken. Cool on a wire rack for about 45 minutes. Remove bars from pan by lifting foil by the edges and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 2 1/2 inch squares, wiping knife clean between cuts. Dust bars with confectioner's sugar if desired.

The Final Product













Cookie press rating: 5 cookies (out of five)