Posted by Beth on Dec 9, 2020 in Blog, Bready or Not, cookies | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Honey Spritz Cookies
These Honey Spritz Cookies are perfectly sweet, and with some added sanding sugar, will make cookie plates bright this holiday season!
I have a love and hate relationship with my cookie press. Sometimes I try to use it for recipes and it is a disaster. Not so with this recipe!
This dough was soft and dreamy to work with. I can only hope that you have a similar experience.
As I used a tree-shaped disc to make my cookies, I added some green sanding sugar. The fun thing about this recipe is that you can make it any time of year and customize it to the season.
Really, the most difficult thing about this recipe was rearranging my fridge to fit in the cookie sheets for their chill time.
Bready or Not Original: Honey Spritz Cookies
Use a cookie press to create delicious cookies! These treats are perfectly sweet.
Course: Dessert, Snack
Keyword: cookie press, cookies, holiday
Servings: 40 cookies
Author: Beth Cato
cookie press
2 large cookie sheets
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- sanding sugar or coarse sugar or other edible decorations
Place two cookie sheets in fridge to completely chill.
Arrange oven racks at top and bottom of oven, then set to preheat at 350-degrees.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, honey, and vanilla. Gradually add in the dry mixture until just combined. Dough will be super-soft.
Cookie presses vary in how they work–fill the device with dough, however required, and add decorative disk or nozzle. Press out cookie dough directly onto the cold cookie sheets, spacing 1-inch apart.
If desired, add colorful sanding sugar or other decorations. Bake for 7 minutes. Switch placement of cookie sheets within oven. Bake for another 7 minutes, until set. Let cool on pans for about 5 minutes then transfer to racks to completely cool.
Store in sealed containers at room temperature.
Read More
Posted by Beth on Dec 2, 2020 in Blog, Bready or Not, cookies, nutty | Comments Off on Bready or Not: Noel Cookies
We made it to December! Let’s celebrate with these Noel Cookies.
These cookies are a fun mixture of textures and flavors. Chopped nuts crust a soft cookie, everything complemented by a zing of jam.
I used good ol’ Smuckers strawberry preserves for this recipe and avoided large chunks of fruit. Really, use whatever jam you like!
I was a bit concerned about how these cookies would travel to my husband’s work. I didn’t want jam to get everywhere and make a sticky mess. I found, though, that the dabs of jam stayed put and that waxed paper between the stacked cookies kept everything from going sticky.
These cookies will keep for at least 3 days in sealed containers. They might last longer, but you’ll need to test your restraint to find out!
Recipe modified from Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes 2008.
Bready or Not: Noel Cookies
These jam-filled cookies look bright and cheery for holiday cookie plates! Recipe makes about 40 cookies.
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cookies, walnuts
Servings: 40 cookies
Author: Beth Cato
teaspoon scoop
parchment paper
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter half stick
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup finely-chopped nuts
- 1/3 cup seedless fruit jam or preserves, avoid big chunks
Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a big bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
In another bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture while also intermittently adding in the sour cream.
Use a teaspoon scoop to measure the dough. Roll into balls, then roll each ball in the chopped walnuts. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Use the end of a wooden spoon or another kitchen tool to create a deep indentation in the middle of each cookie. Add a dollop of jam to fill each well.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until set. Let cool on cookies sheet for a few minutes, then move to rack. Store in a sealed container with waxed paper between the layers. Keeps for at least 3 days.
Read More
Posted by Beth on Nov 25, 2020 in Blog, Bready or Not, maple, no-bake dessert | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Hard Maple Candy
This Hard Maple Candy garnered the name “Canadian meth” at my husband’s work. By that nickname, I take it that they 1) liked it, and 2) kept eating it.
On a more personal note, this candy could also work as a shiv, because this stuff is like GLASS. Trust me when I say that if you decide to break this into pieces with your hands, you will get little cuts all over. Ow.
So maybe tap the candy gently with the butt of a butter knife or use a little mallet, whatever you have that will break the candy apart without harming your pan, counter, or you.
Once you survive that stage, though, wow will you have a lot of candy to enjoy. Definitely make this to share with a crowd, or you just might go into diabetic shock.
It’d be a delicious way to go, but seriously, I don’t recommend going at all. We’ve made it this far in 2020. Hold on a while longer.
Bready or Not Original: Hard Maple Candy
This super-easy recipe makes a LOT of hard maple candy that is best sucked on, not chewed. Perfect for holiday gifts!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Keyword: candy, maple, no bake
Author: Beth Cato
- nonstick spray
- 3 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup water
- 3 Tablespoons maple flavor
Heavily apply nonstick spray to the jelly roll pan.
In a large saucepan, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Start heating up. Set up candy thermometer and stir frequently as the heat rises to 300-degrees, which is hard-crack stage.
Remove pan from heat. Stir in maple flavoring. Immediately pour candy into the prepared pan. Cool completely, which won’t take long.
Carefully break into pieces. Note that this stuff is like candy glass, and if breaking with hands, it can and will cut the skin.
Pack into individual bags or tins for gift-giving, or stack it in a large sealed container with waxed paper between layers. Can keep for weeks.
Read More
Posted by Beth on Nov 24, 2020 in anthology:story, Blog | Comments Off on Out Today: Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology
Today’s the release date for Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology, a book that celebrates Escape Pod’s 15th anniversary with a range of diverse science fiction stories. I’m somehow mixed in there with a who’s-who of authors. Here’s the official description; buy the book wherever books are sold, in print and in ebook!
The fifteenth anniversary of the Hugo-nominated science fiction podcast Escape Pod, featuring new and exclusive stories from today’s bestselling writers.
Finalist for the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine.
Celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of cutting-edge science fiction from the hit podcast, Escape Pod. Escape Pod has been bringing the finest short fiction to millions of ears all over the world, at the forefront of a new fiction revolution.
This anthology gathers together fifteen stories, including new and exclusive work from writers such as from Cory Doctorow, Ken Liu, Mary Robinette Kowal, T. Kingfisher and more. From editors Mur Laffterty and S.B. Divya comes the science fiction collection of the year, bringing together bestselling authors in celebration of the publishing phenomenon that is, Escape Pod.
Available at Amazon [affiliate link] | Bookshop.org [support indies] | Barnes & Noble
#SFWAPro
Read More