And then there were eight...

Tomorrow is our annual Craft Party and I've been baking cookies for most of the day. I have to say, this is probably the cutest cookie I've ever made. I have only eight and intend on giving them to the handful of kids I know are coming.

The cookie dough recipe comes from one of my favorite cookie books (I really have only two) and is intended as an alternative to gingerbread dough. Teachers use this not-so-spicy recipe after reading The Gingerbread Man to their students. But I used it to make other little guys...

Butterscotch Bears

1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
3.4 oz pkg. regular butterscotch pudding mix
1 egg
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. cinnamon
Handful of mini chocolate chips for decorating

Sift together the flour, soda, ginger and cinnamon and set aside. In a mixing bowl cream butter, brown sugar and dry pudding mix. Add egg and beat well. Add the flour and spices to the creamed mixture. Chill the dough for about an hour.

To make butterscotch bears, roll dough into the following sizes:

8 balls, 2 inches in diameter, for the body
8 balls, 1 inch in diameter, for the head
32 balls, 1/2 inch in diameter, for the arms and legs
16 balls, 3/8 inch in diameter, for the ears
8 balls, 1/4 inch in diameter, for the bear snout

Squish two ears to each head and flatten to about 1/2 inch. Add the ball for the body and flatten. Add arms and legs to the sides, and the snout to the face.

Warning: If the bear looks more like a pig at this point, don't panic.

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. The bears will be slightly doughy when they come out. Quickly add the mini chocolate chips for eyes, nose, and buttons. Leave the bears on the baking sheet for a few more minutes to harden.

Makes 8 Butterscotch Bears

I would have made a double-batch of these--they are adorable--but I would have wanted Critter Help for it. She's on the tech crew for the high school production of Our Town, though, and was gone all day today for tech rehearsal. And when she came home, she wasn't quite dressed for baking. Tonight is Winter Formal.

Sorry, Charlie!

Our annual Craft Party approaches. I took today off to run errands and bake cookies. CrafterKat took Critter to the grocery store to grab things for dinner--the kitchen was finally mine. The house was quiet--kitties slept in various comfy spots throughout the house--and I finally had all of my ingredients together. I began mixing a batch of cookies and chuckled to myself. How softly can I open this?

It never fails... An open can can mean only one thing.

Tuna.

She doesn't seem to believe me when I tell her it's pumpkin....

Don't Look Ethel!

Did I mention I found The Book?

The Golden Poet stopped by over the weekend and I handed her the zippie of leftover sugar cookies for her boys. She and I speak a similiar language. "Ethel's?" she asked.

"Of course."

"They're the best," she answered.

I agreed.

Ethel's Sugar Cookies

3/4 c. shortening (part butter or margarine)
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 t. lemon flavoring or 1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

Sift flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Mix shortening (I usually make this 1 stick of butter and 1/4 c. of shortening), sugar, eggs, and flavoring thoroughly. Add flour mixture and blend well. Cover the dough and chill for at least one hour (overnight is better).

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough 1/4 inch thick on lightly sugared board (I like using sugar instead of flour when rolling out cookies). Cut with cookie cutters and place on ungreased cookie sheet or parchment papered tray. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until cookies are a delicate golden color.

Pike's Pumpkin Paradise

Since being in Seattle last May, I've been craving pumpkin cookies like we found in Pike Street Market. Huge monster-sized treats of spicey goodness. This weekend, I found a recipe that comes close. Make them extra big so you don't have to go back for seconds so quickly!

Pike's Pumpkin Paradise

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 t. ground cinnamon *
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 t. vanilla

Icing (if you want, but in no way necessary!)
2 c. powdered sugar
3 T. milk
1 T. butter, melted
1 t. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl (or your stand mixer!), cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the butter mixture. Beat until creamy. Mix in the dry ingredients.

Drop onto a cookie sheet by large spoonfuls (the bigger the better, in my opinion!). I was able to get six to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Keep the mounds a bit thick--the dough will spread some but it will end up a cake-like cookie after baking. If you flaten it slightly (which I did), it will hold the icing a bit better.

Bake for 15-20 minutes (I baked it for 15 and they turned out yummy).

To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, milk, 1 Tablespoon of melted butter, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

Our cookies didn't really last long enough to ice... I think next time I may have to do a double batch.


Edited 11-21-2006

* During our annual November Craft Party I inadvertently grabbed the Costco-sized container of nutmeg instead of cinnamon. Still delicious!

Cinnamon Autumn With a Pinch of Molasses Drama

Last weekend, in my mind, was the beginning of Autumn. Mostly because I was able to do this.

Well, maybe not gingerbread cookies, but it was the first opportunity to bake in the new kitchen. Notice how tiny the old kitchen looked... I can't believe that I ever survived nine years with so little counter space. And my head is extremely happy, too. I can't tell you how often I've bumped my noggin on those old cabinets above that penisula.

Now when we bake or cook, it resembles this:

Last weekend was action packed--and baking cookies was the perfect way to begin. Friday night I had decided what cookies to make (chocolate chip, peanut butter, and some sort of molasses cookie). I made sure that I had unsalted butter (the only ingredient I wasn't sure was in the freezer) and went to bed.

Saturday morning I retrieved said butter and pulled out the stand mixer [insert sounds of angels singing here] only to find that it needed to be thoroughly washed. It had been stored under the computer desk in the living room for three months and had accumulated several ickies inside the bowl. Sigh. I methodically washed the bowl, the stand, and any other little bit that connected to the mixer.

With the butter melting on the stove, I began pulling out all of the flours and sugars needed for Alton's recipe. And then went looking for the flour sifter... Not where it used to be, snuggled down with the measuring cups. Found it one drawer down from there. Sifted the flour and went to add baking soda. No measuring spoons with the measuring cups. Found them somewhere else. Are you beginning to see just how much bigger our kitchen is?

The first batch of cookie dough went into the fridge while I pondered which kind of molasses cookie I wanted to make. Time to get The Book. Which was not on the new bookshelf we purchased for the living room. Nor was it in the cookie cutter drawer (yes--we have a drawer for cookie cutters!). Nor was it nestled among the DVDs and computer games on the large oak shelf from Mr. GoGoGo's old law office.

I believe at this point I suffered a minor heart attack.

After several deep breaths I was able to locate a hand-written molasses cookie recipe. That called for shortening. Which we hardly ever buy. Sigh. I had just enough for the recipe and was able to store that in the fridge.

Then a quick shower, lunch of mac and fromage, and we were off to see Wicked at the Keller Auditorium. Wicked is the story of Oz happenings before Dorothy was blown in from Kansas, centering on two girls who become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. The women had incredible storylines, fantastic songs, snappy lines, and great costumes. I'd highly recommend seeing it if you have the chance. Critter enjoyed it, too, saying it was "almost better than Hairspray" which she attended with the Social Butterfly and myself.

After the show, we went to New Seasons Market and bought flavored brauts and garlic chicken for dinner. Once home, the baking began. If only I could find the parchment paper to line the cookie sheets.

I foraged up in the attic and found two rolls of it. Unfortunately, they were in two more boxes that were destined for the kitchen. Sigh. We thought we had unboxed everything when I brought the eight other boxes down in August.

And no sign of The Book, either.

At the end of the evening the whole house smelled of molasses. And a bit of peanut butter (which used up the last of the shortening!).

Sunday morning we baked the last of the cookies and headed off to the Scrap Maven's house for a day of scrap booking. I brought cookies and a borrowed laptop. CrafterKat had the remainder of our Disneyland photos to paste. Huggy Girl brought her daughter and many cute "nekked baby" photos. The day was spent in scrapbooking and cookie bliss. With a few dashes of garlic and rosemary brauts on the side.

And after a week I still have not found The Book...