Cookie Carnival: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies, by Martha Stewart
These tender cookies are made with cream and studded with sweet strawberries for a portable version of a classic dessert.
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 remaining
7 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.

Temper's Take:
They pretty much live up to their description a portable version of Strawberry Shortcake. I love real strawberry shortcake. During the summer we use to pick strawberries in 5 gallon buckets. There were evening when that was supper. And none of that sponge cake stuff you get from the unenlightened. Ah those were the days.

for an on the go treat these weren't bad, they went together quick which is good considering their short life span, but really I prefer the real stuff. maybe with some other fruit...

Cookie Carnival: Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

After a brief hiatus I'm back with another Cookie Carnival cookie. This one is a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie, from Regan Daley from her absolutely fabulous MUST-HAVE book, In The Sweet Kitchen. Not my normal fare but hey chocolate chip cookies! gotta be good right? Yep, they were good, all three batches, only one approached soft though.

My problems? Room temperature may vary greatly from the norm with no central heat and I may have a wee problem with overcooking cookies. Maybe I will give them another go this summer when no air conditioning raises the temp a bit.

The Ultimate Chewy and Soft Chocolate Chunk Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsps. pure vanilla extract
3 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
16 oz. flavorful bitter or semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly butter them, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or a large bowl if mixing by hand, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.


2. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks.


3. Using your hands, shape knobs of dough about the size of a large walnut and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Stagger the rows of cookies to ensure even baking. Bake 12-15 for smaller cookies, 14-17 for larger ones or until the tops are a light golden brown. If the cookies are neither firm nor dark when they are removed from the oven, they will cool chewy and soft. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. If somehow they don't get inhaled immediately, they may be stored airtight at room temperature for up to one week.

Temper's Take:
Good cookies, nothing spectacular and Toll house still rocks my chocolate chip cookie boat.

Cookie Carnival: Chocolate Pecan Biscotti

Sorry for the fuzzy picture but that is how I felt all week after making this. I started feeling bad Friday night but darn it I had plans and then I slept for a week. So by the time I figured out my pictures were fuzzy it was way past time to take another.

This months recipe from Kate at The Cookie Carnival was Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti. I have never made biscotti before, heck I have never eaten biscotti before so this was a real experiance for me.

I had some problems with the recipe. The biggest problem was heat both my internal and the external. The rest was a dough that was much softer than I think it should have been. If I had been capable of thought at all I would have chilled it so I could form it into loafs. But I didn't and it shows.

CHOCOLATE PECAN BISCOTTI
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted
3 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Grind 1/2 cup toasted pecans in processor. Set aside. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and sugar in another large bowl to blend. Add eggs and vanilla and almond extracts and beat until well blended. Beat in flour mixture. Mix in 1 cup whole toasted pecans, chocolate chips and 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts.


Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Shape each piece on baking sheet into 2 1/2-inch-wide by 14-inch-long log. Place logs on prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart (logs will spread during baking). Bake until logs feel firm when tops are gently pressed, about 35 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet 15 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.


Using long wide spatula, transfer baked logs to cutting board. Using serrated knife, cut warm logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.


Arrange slices, cut side down, on 2 baking sheets. Bake biscotti until firm, about 15 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool completely. (Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti can be prepared ahead. Store in airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.)

Temper's take:
They were my favorite kind of cookie, one that needs a big glass of milk. It was dry and rich and dense. Unlike alot of cookies, even though it soaked up alot of liquid it did not become mush and fall apart, a definite plus in a dunking cookie. I need to learn how to make them prettier and smaller. I will definitely try these again, or something similar.