Orange Sugar Cookies

Spring has sprung my sweet friends! The warmth is here, the flowers are all over the place saying hello, the trees are blooming beauties, and I have been running in shorts and a t-shirt! Life is beautiful!

I hope that everyone had an absolutely loving, family and chocolate filled Easter weekend, as mine was filled with far too many chocolate eggs that this morning I still feel as if I am in a coma—yes I ate that much. I decided to change gears a bit and go ahead and freeze most of my chocolate because 1. Out of sight out of mind, and 2. If you didn’t know already, frozen candy, in my family, means zero calories! Now who wants in with us?

So as I say goodbye to Mr. Bunny with his ears bitten off, I am saying Bonjour to my very simple sugar cookies and rather adorable cookie cutters, which I firmly believe that they are a staple in many a bakers life—I mean we can cut out so. Many. Things.

Cookies, candy, fudge, stencils, bread, cake—dare I go on?

Not to brag, but my wild animal + Eiffel Tower collection of cutters is rather fabulous, but I have been using them more as decorations lately than for baking…why Katie, why?!

And here we have it, an ever so simple and delicious sugar cookie recipe that allowed me to show off my goods in more ways than lining the kitchen! Something extra special that I am obsessing over with this recipe is the versatility of it. Yes, I decided to make them orange, but any flavors—citrus or not—are truly perfect with it. Add in crushed mints, put in multiple zests, how about extra sprinkles, they are all possible! Plus, can you just think at how cute and perfect these cookies will be for all things outdoors?! I mean, who doesn’t want a margarita and sugar cookie on the back porch? No one! Let's just add in a martini, margarita and wine glass to that cookie cutter collection of yours.

You’re welcome!

ingredients

Butter, room temperature—8 oz, or 2 sticks

Sugar—12.25 oz, or 1 ½ C

Eggs—1

Orange Extract—¼ tsp

Flour—15 oz, or 3 C

Salt—½ tsp

Baking Soda—¾ tsp

Orange Zest—1 medium

Milk—½ TBL

process

In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.

Once light and fluffy, add the egg and extract.

*You can use any flavor extract you would like, the orange just adds more depth and flavor.*

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.

With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients.

Add in the zest.

Once all combined, add in the milk.

When your dough is nice and smooth, remove from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap—put into the refrigerator to chill.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350˚ F.

Remove the dough from the fridge.

On a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough to warm it up just slightly, this allows the dough to become slightly more pliable when you are rolling it out.

Roll out the sugar cookie dough until it is about ¼” thick.

*If it is easier for you, you may roll the dough out in sections so that you are working with less.*

Using whatever cookie cutters you have, stamp out as many as the rolled out dough will allow.

Place all cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment, a Silpat or sprayed with nonstick spray.

Put in the refrigerator to chill for about 10 minutes.

Repeat these steps until you have used all of your dough.

Before baking, you may either sprinkle with some coarse sugar, sprinkles, chocolate chips, whatever you’d like to decorate!

Place the cut, chilled and decorated cookies in the oven to bake for about 12-15 minutes, until just slightly golden on the edges.

Allow to cool on a rack, and enjoy with a cozy cup of tea!

Bon Appétit!

Caramel Stuffed Gingerbread Cookies

Happy Week Before Christmas!!

Now I know that everyone is making gingerbread houses, gingerbread men, ladies and dogs, but how about some stuffed gingerbread cookies?!

Yes. Stuffed I say, and it gets better. How about filling your cookies with lots and lots of caramel? How about some homemade dulce de leche?

Step aside my gingerbread people; you’ve got a new boss in town!

Ever since I was little, my mom would always make absolutely fabulous gingerbread houses, that we would then decorate incredbily hideous—covering them with every color gum drop, candy cane and chocolate—and then eventually give them to the animals a couple of weeks later so that they could, also, get a nice sugar rush. While the stress of building so many houses (now I believe we are at 10 each year!) is rather overwhelming the day before, come Christmas day when it’s time for the, now, Gingerbread House Contest, we all go crazy! One year my brother decorated it completely in cereal squares; my nieces and nephews usually make theirs the most functional; I like to just coat it in spicy cinnamon candy that I’ll later pick at all night as a snack.

The entire thing is a rather fabulous ordeal, and I would never want to give this tradition up for anything! The endless bowls of candy options and both my mom and I hysterical the day before when the roofs keep falling off lead me to keeping these cookies simple—yet packed with a cooked, sugary goodness!

I like to start with a very simple gingerbread cookie dough recipe. There is just the right amount of spiciness in this cookie, not anything too overpowering, so that you can truly taste each and every spice. While I could have coated these in some shiny white icing and glorious decorations, I decided to put that extra sweetness inside of the cookies!

Yes, like actually inside.

As you all know, keeping a jar of easy, homemade dulce de leche sauce in my fridge is as much a staple for me as are butter and eggs. It is oh so quick, and can be used in a multitude of recipes—like my Ginger Apple Cake, or Semifreddo, or even an insanely perfect topping for Apple Crisp!

Anyways, it also bakes just marvelously inside of these gingerbread cookies, adding just enough sweetness without giving anyone a toothache!

Do I sound old or what...

Don’t have dulce de leche? Want to sub caramels instead? Go for it! Homemade or store-bought works just fine—even chocolate fudge can make an excellent filling. Heck, you don’t even have to stuff these cookies, but I know you won’t regret it if you do!

Gingerbread people and houses will forever have a special place in my heart, and my tummy come Christmas night, but these Stuffed Gingerbread Cookies are a new tradition that I’m starting right now!

ingredients

Butter—8 oz, or 1 C

Brown Sugar—5.5 oz, or ¾ C

Molasses—3.25 oz, or 1/3 C

Eggs—2

Vanilla—0.1 oz, or 1 tsp

Flour—18 oz, or 3 2/3 C

Baking Soda—0.25 oz, or 1 ¼ tsp

Salt—0.15 oz, or ½ tsp

Cinnamon—1 tsp

Ginger—¾ tsp

Nutmeg—¾ tsp

Allspice—¼ tsp

Dulce de Leche—1 can, recipe shown here

process

Cream together the butter and sugar.

Once light and fluffy, add in the molasses.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

Sift together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients to your mixer.

Once the dough has formed, wrap it in plastic and allow to chill for about an hour.

When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 350˚ F.

This is when it gets fun!

These cookies are delightful without a filling, but adding a caramel or dulce de leche brings them to a whole different level.

You may use store bought caramels, this dulce de leche recipe here, nutella, whatever your little tummy desires!

To fill the cookies: take two equal sized pieces of cookie dough (1 oz for me!), and roll into balls.

Take one of them and make into a small bowl, this is where you will put your caramel.

Take the second ball and make it flat, this will be a cover for your bowl.

Pinch the sides together to seal in your filling, roll to make a seamless ball.

Do this until you have used up all of the dough—should make around 15-18 cookies depending on what size you decide to make, as well as how much of the dough you eat!

Put your cookies on a pay that has been sprayed with nonstick spray, about 3x3, because the cookies will get rather large.

Bake for 13-15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for just a few minutes before eating for a gooey center.

Bon Appétit!

Ginger Spice Cookies

          Happy November! Now that Halloween is over, the true holiday season is upon us! Why yes, I may begin to watch Elf soon (don’t tell Roberto), and humming some tunes that are only appropriate for next month may occur while I prepare my Thanksgiving dessert menu, but I just cannot help it. While I absolutely adore fall and all that it has to offer, November 1st-December 26th has me in a rather nonstop giddy state. Who knows, maybe there is just 100x the normal amount of love in the air, or maybe I am just super excited for Peppermint Mocha season (sorry, PSL, you no longer win!), but as of November 1st, general happiness is at an all time high!

            So, of course, I had to bake a staple in the winter diet—ginger cookies. Growing up, my grandparents would always have a huge box of these in their house, and I would, not so sneakily, eat handfuls at a time. I used to just let them soak in milk or hot chocolate, get super mushy, and then eat them, about 10 in a sitting, before possibly going back for more. Wow, sugar obsessed much? Not ashamed!

            As I now feel as though it is acceptable for me to purchase these forever favorite ginger snaps, I thought it would be even better to make my own version, so I don’t have to go back to the supermarket every other day to shamefully buy another box! With my addition of candied ginger, the spiciness of this cookie multiplies, and at the same time, brings the sweetness level down—this allows you to eat more of these, guilt free because your mouth isn’t screaming at you for a sugar overload! Best part of my ginger spice cookies? When you roll them in sugar and bake them, they form a nice, crisp outer shell, but leaving the insides soft and chewy, the most amazing combination of textures.

            It’s a good thing that I am feeling extra full of love these days because, as much as I am obsessed with these cookies, my fiancé is even more! So go and take your cheery self into the kitchen, maybe put on a pair of favorite socks that happen to have reindeer on them, or your coziest snowflake sweater, and get to baking!

ingredients

Butter—6 oz, or 12 TBL

Brown Sugar—8 oz, or 1 ¼ C

Eggs—1

Molasses—2.75 oz, or ¼ C

Flour—12.5 oz, or 2 ½ C

Baking Soda—0.1 oz, or ½ tsp

Salt—0.05 oz, or ¼ tsp

Ground Ginger—0.15 oz, or 2 tsp

Candied Ginger (cut into small pieces)—0.75 oz, or 1 TBL

Allspice—0.1 oz, or ½ tsp

Black Pepper—0.1 oz, or ½ tsp

Sugar—as needed to roll dough in

process

In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar.

Once smooth, add in your egg and molasses. Mix until combined.

Sift together all of your dry ingredients and then slowly add to your creamed mixture.

Once the dough has formed, add in your chopped candied ginger.

Transfer your cookie dough either into another bowl or wrap it in plastic, allow it to firm up in the refrigerator for about an hour.

When you are ready to bake your cookies, preheat your oven to 350˚ F.

Form your cookie dough into whatever sized balls you would like, 2 oz is the perfect cookie size to me!

Roll them in sugar and then put on a sheet pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Press down slightly.

Put into your preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly before eating.

Bon Appétit!