Tag Archives: cookies

Shamrock Whoopie Pies

Posted
Filed under cookies, dessert, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, silpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

photo

Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone!!!

I hope you guys had a fun day today. Did you go party somewhere fun, and drink some green beer;-)

St Patrick’s Day sure looks like a lot of fun. Looking at picture of green tainted rivers, parades and green beer, it certainly looks like many people are having a great time. I hope one day I will get to see that too. It must be quite impressive to see a river green!! Do you think that I would enjoy this holiday even though I don’t like to drink beer.. Would that make a difference?

Well Spartanburg, SC, had nothing of that. It was a very quiet Sunday here. I certainly enjoyed the beautiful weather, and the warm temperature and  sure hope that Spring is here to stay!

So instead of celebrating St Patrick’s DAy like many of you, I celebrated mine in my kitchen trying to make Shamrock Whoopie Pies. Well they look more like Fleur de Lys Thank Shamrock, but I certainly tried.

And What do I think of them??? They taste great!!! Nothing like a fluffy and yummy French Pastry but they are pretty good:-) and they are easy to do:-)

Ingredients for 15 Whoopie pies:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 T light corn syrup
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 T cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
  • 1/2 oz. green liquid food coloring
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare 2 large perforated sheets by placing a large silpat on two perforated sheets.
  2. In a mixer, beat the butter and the sugar on medium high-speed until it is light and fluffy.
  3. Add the egg and beat until it is well incorporated. Add the  vanilla and the corn syrup and beat about 30 seconds more.
  4. In a large bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.photo 1
  5. Add 1/3 of the mix to the batter and beat on low speed until it is just incorporated. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk and beat until just incorporated.photo 2
  6. Repeat step 5 until you have used all the dry mix and all the buttermilk.
  7. Add food coloring.Do not over beat.
  8. Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe the dough onto the silpat by making shamrocks.photo 3
  9. Place the perforated sheet into the oven and bake about 6 (if on a silpat and perforarted sheet),  otherwise 8 minutes or until the cookies are set.photo 4
  10. When cooked, let them cool on the perforated sheet.
  11. Meanwhile prepare the filling.

Ingredients for the filling:

  • 1 jar of marshmallow paste
  • 1 stick of butter at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup of sugar
  1. Place all the ingredients into a mixer and beat until it becomes thick.
  2. Spoon the filling into a pastry bag and pipe the filling onto a whoopie pie.photo 5
  3. Place a top on each whoppie pie et voila!!!

photo

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Melted Snowman

Posted
Filed under cookies, dessert, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, silpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

photo

Snow… I wish we had snow here in Spartanburg. It would be fun;-). I am not asking for a lot, just a day or two to see the snow fall, and to be able to make a snowman… it is so magical and it makes such good memories.

Well, today, in spite of snow, I made a snowman in my kitchen. I found the idea of Better Homes and Garden Websites.

Ingredients for 14 Melted Snowmen cookies:

Ingredients for the chocolate cookies:

  • 3/4lb of bittersweet chocolate chips,
  • 1/2 stick of butter,
  • 3 large eggs,
  • 3/4 cup of granulated sugar,
  • 2 tsp of vanilla extract,
  • 1/3 cup of all purpose flour,
  • 1/4 tsp of baking powder,
  • 1/4 tsp of salt,
  • 1 cup of chopped pecans ( optional- I substituted with mixed chocolate chips instead.)
  1. Turn your oven to 350.
  2. In a microwave-proof bowl, place the chocolate and the butter and cook for 2 minutes on high. Let it cool.
  3. In a mixer, place the eggs and the sugar and beat on high until the eggs turn pale yellow, and become fluffy.
  4. Add vanilla to the chocolate mixture and pour into the egg mixture. Stir.
  5. Add the flour, the baking powder, the salt and the nuts ( if you are using any) and mix well. Let it rest for 5 minutes in the fridge.
  6. Scoop the batter into 2 inches rounds onto a large silpat that you would have placed on a large perforated sheet. Space them out every inches.
  7. Cook for 6 minutes. The cookies should have cracked, but make sure that the crack is not wet when touching with your fingers for doneness. Let cool on rack. When the cookies are cold, follow the steps below to make the melted snowmen.

If you are running out of time, you may use the Dark Chocolate Chip refrigerated Cookie from Pillsbury. If you do, cook them according to directions. 

If you are using the demarle cookware and a silpat, cook for 15 minutes. 

Ingredients for 14 Melted Snowmen Cookies:

  • 1 recipe of the brownie chocolate chip cookies ( above)
  • 1/2 of a vanilla almond bark.
  • 14 mini reeese cups
  • 14 regular sized reese cups
  • 14 orange sprinkle
  • 28 mini chocolate chips
  1. Bake the cookies according to directions
  2. Melt the vanilla flavored almond bark in the microwave for 60-90 seconds. But stop at half time and stir to prevent the chocolate to scorch.
  3. Cut the end of the regular Reese to make the trim of the hat. Set aside.
  4. Pour the vanilla chocolate coating over each cookie.
  5. Place the “trim” of the hat, and a small Reese to make the hat.
  6. Place two mini chocolate chips to create the eyes.
  7. Place the orange sprinkle to make it look like the nose.

photo

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Crisp Chocolate Cookies

Posted
Filed under cookies, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

As you know I go grocery shopping almost every day. It allows me to find inspiration if I don’t know what I am going to eat that night, or just get the freshest ingredients. Sometimes I go to Publix, sometimes I go to the Fresh Market. I love those two grocery store, they are so clean and their food look so fresh! There is one thing i do not like at the Fresh Market though… it is that table full of treats, cookies and cupcakes. I always drool over them.. and resist the temptation to buy them;-)

I had seen those yummy looking crisp chocolate cookies, so when I saw this recipe in the Chocolate edition of the Fine Cooking 2006, I had to fix them of course just to try;-)

Ingredients: 3 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature, 1 cup of granulated sugar, 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 2 large eggs at room temperature, 2 tsp. of vanilla extract, 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of baking soda, 3/4 lb. of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Turn the oven to 375. In a bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. In the mixer bowl, place the butter and the sugar and beat for 1 minute until the butter turns white and double in volume. Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on medium. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop tablespoon of dough every two inches on the large silpat. You will probably need 2 large perforated sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are turning a deep brown. Remove the sheets from the oven and let the cookies cool off for about 5 minutes. When the cookies are completely cold, place them in an airtight container or in a plastic bag so they will stay crisp. Miam!!! My kids love them!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Posted
Filed under cookies, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Well the brownies I made two days ago were gone when I got home yesterday, so when I asked Lisa what she wanted me to fix for her lunch, she replied: ” the same, pleaaaaaaase…..”.

Cooking the same?!?! Where is the fun? well, i wanted to find something as yummy as those brownies but different somehow. I like to try new recipes… and I was delighted to find this following recipe in the Chocolate Edition of Fine Cooking of  winter 2006. Those cookies are so soft, it is as if you are eating a brownie except that it is much lighter, AND it does not stick to your fingers;-) so you can now eat up a” brownie” without making a mess…

Ingredients: 3/4lb of bittersweet chocolate chips, 1/2 stick of butter, 3 large eggs, 3/4 cup of granulated sugar, 2 tsp of vanilla extract, 1/3 cup of all purpose flour, 1/4 tsp of baking powder, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 cup of chopped pecans( not necessary… I did not since my kids don’t like nuts..)

Turn your oven to 350. In a microwave-proof bowl, place the chocolate and the butter and cook for 2 minutes on high. Let it cool.  In a mixer, place the eggs and the sugar and beat on high until the eggs turn pale yellow, and become fluffy. Add vanilla to the chocolate mixture and pour into the egg mixture. Stir. Add the flour, the baking p0wder, the salt and the nuts ( if your are using any) and mix well. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the mixture into a pastry bag (or into a plastic bag if you don’t have a pastry bag, and cut the end once the dough has been poured into it.

Place 2 medium silpat on 2 perforated sheet, or use a large one and a medium one. With the pastry bag, make 1 1/2 inch circles. Space them out every inches. Cook for 6-8 minutes. The cookies should have cracked, but make sure that the crack is not wet when touching with your fingers for doneness. Let cool on rack. When the cookies are cold, use a spatula to remove the cookies from the silpat, and eat up.  Enjoy!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!

Speculos

Posted
Filed under cookies, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Have you ever heard of speculos? Do you know what they are?  When you flip a page of a cookbook, you will find recipes of anything with speculos. Foie gras with speculos crumble, speculos ice cream, Sea bass with speculos. It was so common to see this word everywhere that I started thinking that it was a new spice that I did not know about. Well, it turns out it is a cookie. Obviously a cookie that is quite fashionable here in France and in Europe. In fact, they seem to be the best sold cookies in France before Macarons…

My sister is an accomplished cook and baker. She loves to cook like me, but has a particular talent for cookies and cakes. In fact look at one of the centerpiece she made this spring for an event…. Puffs pastries in a shape of a wave.

CIMG4725.JPG

Unlike me, she does this for a living. She sells pastries, cookies and jellies to specialized stores and online. Check her out if you can: www.douceurs-et-candeur.com
She was just given a big order to deliver for the end of the week. A mere 200 lbs of various cookies. So guess what I have been doing? ….cooking…
It is quite fun. I am learning lots since baking cookies is not what I do often. Well, if you don’t know what to do for treats at Christmas time, bake those cookies. They almost taste like gingerbread.

The recipe for about 40 cookies:

1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of unsalted butter at room temperature, 1 egg,  8 oz of butter, 1 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of nutmeg, 1 tsp of 4 spices, 1 tsp of ginger, 1 tsp of cinammon.

In a bowl place all spices and sugar. Add the butter and the egg and mix until well blent. Add flour and baking powder and continue mixing. Shape a round ball with the dough, and with a rolling pin roll the dough out to a 1/2 inch thick. Place the dough in the refrigerator to cool. 3o minutes later, take the dough out and start cutting cookies in the shape of your choice. Bake in a warm oven for 12 minutes at a temperature of 356 F. Remove then from oven and let them cool at room temperature before placing in containers.


Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!