Cookie Carnival - June - Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to make them soon. And soon I did, I made them the day I received the email with the recipe in it. This month's Cookie Carnival Recipe is for Strawberry Shortcake Cookies. I LOVE strawberries! But more importantly I LOVE strawberry shortcake. A recipe that turns my favorite dessert into a cookie, what's not to love.

I made my dough in the food processor, the recipe said to use a fork or your hands to cut the butter into the flour, I make my pie crust in the food processor, why not the shortcake dough.

I pulled my berries out of the freezer (preportioned into 2 cup size bags) and defrosted added the sugar and lemon juice.

Then I dumped my shortcake dough into a mixing bowl and added the strawberries. Mmmmm, this looked so good.

I had the oven set at 375 and tried to bake the first batch for the time suggested. This is what happened.

Oh wait, you can't really see what happened. Let's try again.

That was after only 20 minutes, I think if I had left them for the 24 to 25 minutes they would have been completely blackened.

Oh well, the next 2 sheets came out just fine. I was able to get 38 cookies using my small Pampered Chef scoop. The kids loved them. I liked them, didn't love them as I hoped that I would. They seemed to be missing something, I'm not sure what though. Will I make them again? Most definitely, with some adjustments.

Here's the recipe should you decide to make them yourself.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:
Makes about 3 dozen.
* 12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* 2/3 cup heavy cream
* Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.

2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Cookies are best served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

ENJOY!!

Interested in joining the Cookie Carnival, visit Kate at The Clean Plate Club.

Cookie Carnival July - Blackberry Almond Bars

It's cookie carnival time. I am participating in a monthly cookie carnival hosted by Kate over at The Clean Plate Club. Anyone that knows me knows that I love to make cookies. Friends and family have all been recipients of the Christmas Cookie Baskets and have even purchased a few to pass on. It just seems natural for me to join in a cookie carnival.

This month’s cookie, well, is a bar. Hmm, is a bar a cookie you ask? Sure! It is in my book anyway. I make chocolate chip cookie bars and use the same recipe, just throw the dough into a pan and let bake, sometimes it’s just easier that way.

My first attempt (yes, there was more than one) was for our family reunion on the 4th of July. I made a quick call to my mom to see if she had any of the “main” ingredients. We checked everything off except for the fruit, which I was bringing from home anyway, and the almonds, no problem those are in the pantry as well.

I get up the morning of the 4th to make my dessert, to realize the almonds are at home. No problem, I’ll just adjust the flour and go from there. I should have read the directions better, need a pestle and strainer. Hmmm, not happening at mom’s we’ll just dump everything in. Baked and it actually turned out well. So well, not a picture was taken.

That’s why I had to make it again. Here is the recipe:
BLACKBERRY ALMOND BARS(williams-sonoma)
INGREDIENTS:
For the shortbread:

* 12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

* 2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1/2 cup ground toasted almonds

* 1/2 cup granulated sugar

* 1/2 tsp. salt

For the blackberry curd:

* 2 pints blackberries

* 4 eggs

* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

* Pinch of salt

* 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

* 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch cake pan.
To make the shortbread, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the butter, flour, almonds, granulated sugar and salt and process until small lumps form. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press evenly into the bottom. Bake until the shortbread is golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
Meanwhile, make the blackberry curd: In a food processor or blender, puree the blackberries until smooth. Pass the puree through a chinois set over a bowl, using a pestle to press on the solids and extract as much juice as possible; discard the solids. You should have about 3/4 cup juice.
In the top pan of a double boiler or in a nonreactive saucepan, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until blended. Then whisk in the blackberry juice, salt and lemon juice. Set the top pan over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan, or set the saucepan over medium-low heat. (If using a saucepan, take care not to heat the mixture too quickly.) Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula or spoon, until the mixture is warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.
Begin adding the butter a little at a time, stirring each addition until blended before adding more. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until a finger drawn across the back of the spatula leaves a path, 8 to 10 minutes more. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. Pass the curd through the chinois set over a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Whisk to blend, then pour the curd over the shortbread, spreading it evenly to the edges.
Bake until the curd is set, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into individual bars, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Dust the bars with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
Makes 20 bars.

I did make a couple of changes though, based on what I had at home. I used a bag of frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries and blueberries). And, I did not strain the pureed fruit but let it cook a little longer on the stovetop until it became thicker. I followed the rest of the directions.
The kids insisted on helping. They turned the food processor on and off for me. And as the curd was setting, they stirred it to make sure “it was cool enough.” The bars turned out great!!!!
The kids loved them, my husband loved them and as aforementioned my family enjoyed them at the reunion.
Can’t wait to see what August brings us!!!

Sewing & Baking

I decided to make some cookies and I found a recipe on Martha Stewart. The recipe is called Outrageous Chocolate Cookies. I did not have the semi-sweet chocolate on hand and I did not have semi-sweet chocolate chunks. So I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and melted them down and instead of the chocolate chunks, I used dark chocolate M&M’s (leftover from all of the Easter Candy). The recipe said it would make 24 cookies and I used the small scoop from Pampered Chef and made 40 cookies I’m glad I took these pictures the night I made them because by the next morning, yep you guessed it, the little guys devoured them. None left. And I would make some more but I don’t have anymore chocolate chips. Need to find another recipe to make them some more cookies but this time, I’ll need to keep them out of reach.

Onto more exciting news, I completed another project on Wednesday. I had been putting it off, I’m really not quite sure why. But she’s finished and I’ll be posting pictures at a later date.

I also finished another block for the Dear Baby Jane that I’m working on . This block is B13 and is called Four Corner Press. I chose yellow for this ring that the block belongs in and while I was going through the box of fabric found the yellow bandana print and while looking for a larger block I came across the fabric that I used for the center. I think they worked out well together. I have to start working on the appliqué blocks; this will be something new for me as I have never done appliqué. The saying you learn something new everyday will hold true for this.