Tips on How Not to Burn Cookies

Burned your cookies and you're not sure why? Well, there are a few possibilities and any of them can happen to anyone. Let me offer a ray of hope and tell a few ways to prevent your cookies from burning.

For starters, have your oven at the suggested recipe temperature. The recipe gives you the temperature for a reason, so preheat your oven and make sure it is hot enough. It's also good to know your oven's hot spots because most ovens are temperamental. For example, I have a side by side double oven and know for a fact that the oven on the right gets hotter faster and cooks faster; the cookies on the right will be done before the ones on the left every time. So when the recipe says 7 to 10 minutes, I would suggest to start out with 7 minutes and then keep an eye on them from there. I know for a fact, that for my ovens, it usually takes less than the suggested time for the cookies to bake in my ovens. So I usually set the time at the lowest time or in the middle.

The crucial thing to remember is don't forget to turn on your timer and look at the clock when you put your cookies in to know what time to take them out. If you don't start a timer and don't look at the clock, plus you forget about your cookies, then don't be surprised if they don't come out as you would like them:not burned or overly brown.

Another thing I learned, a long time ago and recently noticed, is that if you use parchment paper, your cookies won't stick to the pan and it takes a little bit longer for them get brown and darken too much. The other benefit to using parchment paper is that you can use it more than once if you turn it over. Plus, you are using less as well as reusing and doing your part to help the earth!

Hopefully these suggestions will help and encourage those who are talented cookie burners.

Happy baking!

Baking Christmas Cookies

As the Christmas Holiday gets closer, it is time to start thinking about baking those Christmas cookies that everyone loves. They are nice to have around the house for those visitors that stop by to wish you a happy holiday. They are also nice to take to the office, to share during the coffee break, and they make nice gifts for friends and family alike.

Here are 5 all time favorites to try.

Apricot Coconut Delight
1- cup salted butter, softened
1- 8 oz cut sour cream
2- cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup apricot preserves (not jelly)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or other nuts of your choice.

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sour cream until light and fluffy. Combine the salt and flour and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Divide the dough into four equal parts. Wrap each part in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for from 3 to 4 hours or until easy to handle.

2. In a small bowl, combine the apricot preserves, coconut flakes and chopped nuts. set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each portion of sough until it is 1/8 inch thick.

3. Cut into 2-1/2 inch squares, spread each square with a rounded teaspoon of the apricot mixture. Very carefully fold one corner over the filling. Moisten the opposite corner with water and fold over the first corner to seal.

4. Place on an ungreased baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 17 - 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Haystacks
2+1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2+ 1/2 cups butterscotch chips
1- 12 oz. container of chopped nuts. Pecan or peanuts work great.
8- ounces of chow mein noodles.

Melt butterscotch and chocolate chips in the top half of a double boiler over hot water. (Bring the water to a boil, then stop the boil and work with the hot water.) Make sure that the water does not get into the melting chips. Stir in the nuts, then the noodles. Using a teaspoon, drop spoonfuls onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Let cool. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Cookies
1+1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large Egg
1/2 cup super fine sugar
1/2 cup salted butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (you can change up with chunky peanut butter if you like chunky better)
1/2 cup brown sugar.

1. Shift together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
2. In another bowl Cream butter with sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter, creaming after each addition until light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg to the peanut mixture and mix thoroughly.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. (if using chunky peanut butter, mix allowing for the peanuts.
5. Drop the mixture onto a ungreased baking sheet, one teaspoon full at a time, spaced about 2 inches apart.
6. Flatten with a fork, then turn the fork 180 degrees and flatten again to make a crisscross pattern on the top of the cookie.
7. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 9 - 11 minutes. Remove and place on a cookie rack to cool.

Pecan Meltaways
1 cup of butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2+1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans
4 ounces granulated pecans for coating
4 ounces confectioners' sugar for coating.

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, 1/2 cup of confectioners' sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour and salt: gradually add it to the creamed mixture and mix well. Refrigerate until well chilled.
2. Remove from refrigerator, roll into 1 inch balls and place onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.
4. While they are baking, mix the 4 ounces of confectioner's sugar and the 4 ounces of granulated pecans together.
5. Roll the warm cookies in this mixture, remove and let cool. Once cool, roll them in the mixture once again. These are sure to become one of your favorite cookies.

Lemon Drop Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Large Egg
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel. (This is sometimes available at your local spice shop, or you can make your own.)
1 tablespoon half and half
1+1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 ounces (1/2 cup) crushed lemon drops
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, lemon peel and half and half.
2.Combine the flour, lemon drops,baking powder and salt, gradually adding it to the cream mixture, and mix well.
3.Drop, by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges start to brown lightly.
5.Remove from oven, let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before placing on wire racks to complete the cooling process.
6.If you can find them, it is nice to add a small candied lemon slice on top of each cookie. Ask your local bakery, they use them to decorate cakes and might be willing to sell you some. You will need about 4 dozen, as this recipe makes about that many cookies.

The Holiday Season is a great time to gather the family in the Kitchen and bake cookies together. If you have children, here is where those memories are made. Be sure to make enough, because they have a way of disappearing before you know it.

Rosette Cookies

Rosette cookies are a cookie made from very light batter that are deep fried. A rosette iron is used to make them. They are of Norwegian origin, and are made as a Christmas treat. Rosette irons come in many shapes and sizes. The more expensive ones are made from cast iron while the less expensive ones are made from cast aluminum. Mine is aluminum and works very well. The most important thing with making rosettes is the temperature of the oil. It must be kept between 365-375 degrees. Any cooler and the cookie won't cook quickly and evenly as it should, any hotter and the cookie may burn or stick to the iron. You can use an electric fryer with a thermostat, but I prefer to use a cast iron skillet and a thermometer. You'll probably have to make slight adjustments to keep the temperature within the 365-375 degree range.

Rosette Cookie Batter
2 eggs1 TBSP sugarsmall pinch of salt1 cup flour1 cup milk1 tsp vanillaBeat together eggs, salt and sugar. Add rest of ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour oil into pan or fryer, making sure to fill no more than half way to allow for expansion of hot oil when food is placed into it. Make sure you have the lid for the pan or fryer close by. There is always a risk of oil catching on fire (although it is minimal if you keep it below 375 degrees) and the best way to douse an oil fire is by placing a lid on it. Safety first!

Make sure rosette iron is clean and dry. After oil comes to temperature. put iron in oil for a minute or two so that it heats up. Shake off excess oil, and dip iron into batter, but not all the way to the top. Leave a quarter inch or so from the top of the iron, otherwise the batter will cook over the iron and the cookie will be difficult to remove.

Place batter-coated iron into hot oil and cook for about 30 seconds or until brown. The cookie may slip off the iron when still in the oil. Just remove it with a metal turner. If the cookie doesn't come off the iron in the hot oil, give it a gentle shake and it usually will fall off, or gently remove it by putting a metal turner edge alongside one of the edges of the cookie. Place it on a wire rack with paper towels underneath to drain. Continue this procedure until all the batter is used up.

It may take a few tries to get a perfect cookie, but with practice you'll be cranking them out in good order. Just remember to keep that temperature between 365-375 degrees and you'll be rewarded with some of the lightest, crispiest cookies you've ever eaten! Once the cookies are done, dust them with powdered sugar and enjoy.

How Do Fortunes Get Inside Fortune Cookies?

Have you ever sat in a Chinese restaurant and wondered how the fortune got inside that little golden cookie? It seems like a complex piece of origami, but it really is quite a simple process.

After the fortune cookie went public in America around 1914, people fell in love with the little delicacy. Although stories differ as to exactly who invented the cookie and where, it is agreed that the cookie was born in California and appeared at the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair. A purely American creation, the cookie is not native to China as most think. But what would a Chinese meal be without the crisp goodie to look forward to? After all, we have to find out what our future holds.

So, how do they get those bits of wisdom inside the cookie? Back in the day, workers, such as those at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company, would pour a 3 inch circle of batter onto a pan. It would cook quickly and the worker would pull it off the bake top with chopsticks, place the fortune paper on the cookie, and then, using the chopsticks, bend it into its well-known form. This process became an art form as workers' hands carefully formed the cookies.

It is only relatively recently that the fortune cookie met up with modern technology. In San Francisco in 1974, a man named Edward Louie, Lotus Fortune Cookie Company's owner, devised a machine that could automate the fortune cookie making process. He called his technological advance the Fortune III. His machine used the same basic methods of pouring out a disc of batter and baking it. Only now, the cookies, while still warm, could be picked up by metal pincers, have a fortune laid down on them, and be folded into the classic crescent shape - all in a matter of seconds.

The reason these cookies can be folded when hot is due to the properties in sugar. The batter basically consists of flour, sugar, water and eggs. When heated, these ingredients are malleable for a few seconds before they harden to a shiny, hard surface. Those precious few seconds mean a fortune can be included as part of the treat.

Now, automated machines can fold up to 8,000 cookies every hour. That's a lot faster than the hand done versions. And it's just as well because the demand has grown over the years for this crispy Confucian confection. People are now ordering custom fortune cookies for their weddings, birthday parties, corporate and business events and even as sympathy messages.

They now come in every size from tiny to gigantic. You can order them in just about any flavor you like including chocolate dipped with candy embellishments.

Today's fortunes range from wise sayings to lottery numbers. People are customizing their sayings to include marriage proposals, business logos and just about everything else you can imagine. For a small fee, companies online will insert any saying you want into the cookie of your choice. It's a delightful surprise to see a personalized saying inside a fortune cookie. No other cookie on the planet is considered a bearer of sage advice.

Although few people would list the fortune cookie as the best tasting cookie, it is considered a fun cookie in a class by itself.

Betty Ann Sherman is a mother and a baker of tasty treats. She has a special passion for baking cookies, pies, cakes, and everything wonderful. Check back for updates from Betty on her delicious treat adventures.

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