Cookies and Bars
The Cookies and Bars
So this year for Valentine's Day I decided that I would try something a little different so I made X's and O's for my nearest and dearest. I thought it was a cute change of pace and I have to say they looked fantastic. I messed up the royal icing a bit by putting merengue powder in it so they were coffee dunkers. But they looked so cute!
 |
| All ready to be shipped off. I mean really? How cute. |
 |
| Last year for Valentine's Day I was crazy in love so I wanted to make crazy awesome Valentine's and boy did I! I saw this great recipe on Martha and I went out and bought alphabet cookie cutters, fondant, and some cute and different adornments and made these... |
Yes, they were personalized for all the people that I truly loved in my life at the time. Yeah... I am that awesome
For every holiday I love to bake and bake and bake. I usually make most things in my apartment in New York and transport them on the bus - super glam - or in the sissy's chariot, but this year I decided to throw caution to the wind and try to use my parents' ELECTRIC oven. GASP! I made the dough ahead of time because my parents don't, for shame, have a mixer. Then I decided to try something new: COOKIE TREES. I have to say that these are quite easily the best sugar cookies I have ever made! They were like a cross between sugar and shortbread cookies. I mean ridic. You could smell the buttery deliciousness just by standing near one of the trees. I sent some of the cookies to a friend in Chicago who was spending the holidays alone - he had to work. He called freaking out about them and has asked me to make them for him several times since! The problem is I have no clue what I did differently.
Here are the trees. They are put together with layers of royal icing and one is supposed to give the illusion of a tree covered in snow and the other is just whimsical. They looked so great on my mother's vintage buffet
 |
| The final product. They make amazing holiday gifts and hostess presents. |
 |
| These are a family tradition: Tharalis - pronounces Thadahli. My grandmother made them for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and if we were lucky, Easter. My aunt used to make them for said occasions and they were HUGE and off the hook, but lately my mother has been making them. They are still really good with Anise goodness and a royal icing frosting. Honestly, these are the first thing to go in my house during the holidays. These and the pizalles. So, so delicious. I tried my hand at them this year and I have to say Nana's recipe is amazing. |
The first go was a mess. The cake was chewy and weird, but the flavor was delightful so over my holiday break, when I wanted to be in Paris, but was snowed in in New York - ah the blizzard of 2010 - I made these. The texture was perfection, but the lemony flavor wasn't quite there for me. And yes, even the chocolate is vegan.
 |
| Fresh out of the oven |
Glossy, cakey, and beautiful these are as close to the real thing without having butter, eggs, or chocolate in them.
The Homemade Oreo:
The first time I made these was on a whim and they were the best damn things I have ever made. Chocolaty, flaky, crisp, and the frosting was firm and delicious. The second time something happened to the batter. Oh! Now I remember! I read 2 cups of butter instead of two sticks. Yeah... They ended up being good, but they looked like they where hormonally induced.
 |
| These are the SICK peanut butter sandwich cookies I made for a pool party I attended. It felt like the parents were away and we were sneaking an end of the summah ragah. So why not make peanut butter sandwich cookies. These cookies were CRAZY good. CRAZY. |
0 Comments