{Soft, Rolled Chocolate Sugar Cookies}

Yes, my last post was a sugar cookie as well. I can't even help it. I LOVE SUGAR COOKIES. I'm very picky about them though. They need to be FAT, soft, and slathered in buttercream. These are all very important elements to the, in my opinion, perfect sugar cookie.

While dealing with all the snow and the Polar Vortex Jr, we've been spending a lot of time at home. Yesterday, Bean was off school because of the temps. Apparently our Ohio buses are not equipped to deal with -35 windchills. So, we kept on with our Harry Potter movies (over the weekend we'd watched 1-5). After we finished Half Blood Prince, we wandered into the kitchen to make these. I'd mentioned wanting to make them to Bean a few days ago, and he just couldn't let it go. Since he was little, I've said that he "loves chocolate like a girl". And that, my friends, is putting it mildly.

So, cookie time it was.

Chocolate sugar cookies are an interesting beast. By interesting, I mean delicious, of course. They are not quite brownie, not quite sugar cookie. They are allllllll good though.

These work like regular sugar cookies. You roll them out and cut with cookie cutters. They look great on a tray with regular sugar cookies.

What to top them with? Chocolate buttercream, of course! What else? Honestly, they'd be great with regular buttercream too, but chocolate. I sprinkled mine with a little bit of sparkling sugar and some chocolate jimmies. Perfection.

I'm not sure that they will replace sugar cookies as my favorite (well, after Snickerdoodles), but they are daggone good.

Chocolatey good.

Enjoy.

Tina


Chocolate Sugar Cookies
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

Cookies:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4  sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and put aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with mixer. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Add in the vanilla. Pour the flour mixture in, a little at a time, until it is mixed thoroughly.Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours (or overnight).

While rolling, preheat oven to 400. Prepare baking sheet with silpat, parchment, or ungreased.

Roll the chilled dough out on a surface dusted with a small amount of cocoa powder. For these, I rolled the dough to about 1/4" so they would be soft and fat. Cut to desired shapes with cookie cutters. Brush off excess cocoa with a pastry brush before baking.

Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before icing.


Chocolate Buttercream
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers


(you will only need 1/2 recipe for these cookies)

3/4 cup butter (softened)
1/4 cup shortening (I prefer Crisco)
1/2 to 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
4 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
 
Beat the butter and shortening until fluffy (3-4 mins). Slowly add in the powdered sugar and cocoa. Beat for about 3 minutes. Add in the milk starting with 2 tablespoons. Add vanilla. If too thick add the extra tablespoon of milk. Mix until distributed.

*start with 1/2 cup. If not chocolatey enough, add the extra 1/4 cup.

{Soft Peppermint Sugar Cookies}

I know what you are thinking. You think I've lost my mind. "Christmas was LAST month, Tina!". I can hear you all now.

I know, I know, but I had all these leftover candy canes. Surely I'm not the only one?

Who made up the rule that peppermint is only a Christmas treat anyway? I say NUH UH.

I'm a big fan of all things minty, as long as they aren't TOOOO minty. I like mild mint. That's a thing right? Like mild salsa? If not, it should be. Tic Tacs, yes. Starlite mints, yes. Altoids, no.

My hubs is a big fan of mints too. A couple Christmases ago, he even came up with the idea of rolling Snickerdoodles in candy canes instead of cinnamon sugar. You can see those cookies here. The day after Christmas, he saw the pile of candy canes on the kitchen counter and asked if I could make some peppermint cookies. Normally I do this every year. This year, as I posted about, was CUH-RAY-ZEE for me, so I didn't get them made. I kept thinking I'd get them made, but days turned into weeks, and then.... suddenly it's late January.

While we were snowed in this weekend, I finally got around to it. I used a basic sugar cookie dough, added crushed candy canes (starlite mints will work too!), iced with buttercream, and topped with more crushed canes and some coarse sugar.

Easy and oh so yum.

I don't even care it's January. If you make them, you won't either. Sugar cookie goooooooood. Buttercream goooooooood. Peppermint goooooooood.

Peppermint Sugar Cookies? Goooooooood.

Eat up, my friends.

Tina



Peppermint Sugar Cookies


Cookies:
adapted from Bakingdom's Sugar Cookie Recipe

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
2 crushed candy canes or 6 starlite mints

Buttercream Icing:
slightly adapted from Bakingdom

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
pinch teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoons vanilla extract


Topping:

1 crushed candy cane or 3 starlite mints
2 teaspoons of coarse sugar



For the cookies:

Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and put aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with mixer. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Add in the vanilla. Pour the flour mixture in, a little at a time, until it is mixed thoroughly. Mix in the 2 crushed candy canes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours (or overnight).

While rolling, preheat oven to 400. Prepare baking sheet with silpat, parchment, or ungreased.

Roll the chilled dough out on a floured surface. For these, I rolled the dough to about 1/4" so they would be soft and fat. Cut to desired shapes with cookie cutters. Dust off excess flour with pastry brush before baking.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until edges just begin to brown. Allow to cool before icing.


For the Buttercream Icing:
Beat butter with mixer for 3 minutes. Slowly add in sugar & pinch of salt and beat until combined. Pour in 1 tablespoon of heavy cream. Beat for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. If too thick, add more cream, a little at a time. Stir in vanilla.

Spread on cooled cookies.

For the topping:
Mix together, sprinkle on top of iced cookies

{Pecan Chocolate Chip Scones: Scones for Sherlock}

I'll admit I have a little addiction to British TV shows (can I say British telly? I really wanna!). At times I think I watch more British shows than American. I love Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Lark Rise to Candleford, The Vicar of Dibley, Call the Midwife, and many more. However, one of my very favorites is set to come back (to PBS) tomorrow, and I. CANNOT. WAIT.

The thing about British shows is the eternity between seasons. It lasts forever. It's not a quicky 3 month hiatus like American shows. It's months and months. Sometimes years. For this show in particular, it's been years. The Reichenbach Fall (the episode that aired last) was May 20, 2012.

Yes folks, I'm speaking, of course, of Sherlock. If you haven't watched Sherlock yet, I cannot express what you are missing. It is totally and completely made of awesome. It's a modern day take on the story, which sounds a little odd, but so isn't. Sherlock, played by the amazing Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch, is someone you cannot decide if you love or hate, but you certainly root for him in all cases. Watson is played by Bilbo Baggins himself, Martin Freeman.

Not only are scones wonderfully British, Mrs. Hudson, the pair's landlady, is always bringing them trays of tea. I'm quite sure there are scones on it at least some of the time. So, it seemed like the perfect treat for Mr. Holmes.

Scones are a lovely thing. Somewhere between a cookie and a coffee cake. I love the flaky goodness of them. They remind me a lot of the Molly Weasley's Rock Cakes that I made a while back.  They are quite easy to whip up. Other than the chilling time, they come together very quickly. While my version is quite Americanized (sweeter, and wedge shaped), I still think our British friends would find them agreeable.

Scones are a great blank canvas, so many things are delicious in them. For these, chocolate, pecans, and vanilla beans. Yum.

They pair perfectly with tea, of course! Great with coffee too.

There's really no mystery here, even grumpy Sherlock would approve of these!


Are you a Sherlock fan? Or do you know an awesome British show I should be watching?

Let me know in comments.


Tina





Pecan Chocolate Chip Scones
adapted from King Arthur Flour

Dough:
2 3/4 cups flour
1/3-1/2 cup sugar (use 1/2 cup sugar for a sweeter scone)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup cold butter
1 cup chocolate chips (I used milk, you can use whatever you prefer)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk*

Topping:
2 teaspoons milk
2 tablespoons coarse sugar

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.

Cut in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly (you may have some larger pieces of butter that remain). 

  

Mix in the chocolate chips & pecans.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and milk.

Pour the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir until it holds together well.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or use an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle a small amount of flour on the parchment or pan. Divide dough in half.  Round each half into a 6" circle They should be about 3/4" thick.

Brush with milk, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Run a knife under cold water, and dry. Use the chilled knife to cut each circle into 6 wedges. Space the wedges about 1/2" apart.

For best texture and highest rise, place the uncovered pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes.

During this time, preheat your oven to 400 F

 

Bake the scones for 20 minutes or until they're golden brown.

Let sconces cool briefly on the pan. Drizzle with glaze. Serve warm.

When cooled, wrap in plastic and store at room temp.

Vanilla Bean Glaze
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
Caviar of 1/2 a vanilla bean*

Carefully split open a vanilla bean and remove 1/2 of the caviar (store the rest of the bean in an airtight container for later use). Place caviar into a small mixing bowl. Add in the powdered sugar, milk, and butter. Whisk until glossy. Drizzle over warm scones.

You can also use 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

{2 Ingredient Thin Mint Clone}

January.

Does anyone actually LIKE January? With it's post holiday blueness and it's gray skies? Only thing good about January? Snow. I've been told, repeatedly, that I'm a total freak show, but snow makes me happy. Not like a little happy, like I dance around the house happy. I'm always looking out the windows, waiting for it, and if it's night time, I can't sit still. Every 30 minutes or so I must get up, flip on the outside light and check for snow. I can't even help it. I'm just enchanted by it.

Did you all fall into the Polar Vortex? We so did. Before it hit though, we were supposed to have a nice, big snowfall. It went, however, from 8" to a dusting. The dusting was pretty as the Earth around it froze solid. It was ridiculous. We got to -12 with windchills in the -30s. I know others got much colder though. I literally never left the house, except to throw hot water up in the air (well, Bean did it). That took 30 seconds. The end. Back inside. School was cancelled so we bundled up and watched movies. Bean had an awesome Christmas break. 2 extra days added on because of the Polar Vortex. It'll be a year to remember, that's for sure.

You know what else happens in January? (At least around here). Adorable little girls in green uniforms start hocking deliciousness.

This year they are FOUR DOLLARS A BOX. WHAT??? Four. Dollars. For like 2 sleeves of cookies. I can't even. Will I buy them? Well, yeah. But still.

Of course we can only get them once a year, so I've made a solution for you.

I've dipped Ritz crackers in chocolate for years. I just did them for the Christmas trays I gave to friends. A while back I saw this on Pinterest. They'd used the same idea, but had added mint extract to the chocolate to make Thin Mints. NO WAY that tastes like a Thin Mint, right?

Wrong.

Well, I didn't do it their way, I used Andes mints. You know Andes and I are tight. They're my candy BFF when it comes to baking. I LOVE chocolate and mint together and Andes is my fav. I actually used the Andes Bits that the Toostie Roll Company sent me as a thank you for allowing them to use my recipes on their Facebook Page. Regular Andes will work as well, of course, but the bits melt quicker and, major bonus here, you don't have to unwrap them.

Just melt up your bits in the microwave. Melt in 30 second increments, stirring after each 30. (They only took 1 minute to melt in my micro). Or melt double boiler style.

Then, dip your Ritz, place onto waxed paper/parchement/foil and allow to dry.

Dude, that's it. IT.

I know you probably still have your doubts, but they are so close, really! They don't taste like crackers, they taste like cookies. While they aren't 100% perfect, the Girl Scout Thin Mint has a chocolate cookie (but really, you don't miss that here) and a darker chocolate enrobing, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I know I was. Shocked, really.

Give em a go. It will take you all of 10 mins.

Happy January!

Tina




2 Ingredient Thin Mint Cookie Clone
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

Andes Mints Baking Bits or Andes Mint Chocolates
Ritz Crackers

Melt up your chocolate in the microwave. Melt in 30 second increments, stirring after each 30. (They only took 1 minute to melt in my micro). Or melt double boiler style.

Dip your Ritz, remove with a fork, and tap to allow excess chocolate to fall through the tines, place onto waxed paper/parchment/foil and allow to dry.

Store in airtight container. 

/foil and allow to dry.