In The Kitchen: White Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

These cookies are a-may-zing! They didn't even make it through the weekend. They are all kinds of chocolatey goodness right out of the oven. My best advice is to have a plan to get rid of these cookies fast. You do not want to be responsible for eating all of them.  

White Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Adapted from this Allrecipes.com recipe

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup softened butter, unsalted recommended

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnut (can add up to 1 cup)

Preheat oven 375 degrees.

Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a separate larger bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with electric mixer.

Add each egg separately, just mixing enough to not see the egg.

With a spoon or spatula, stir in vanilla until just mixed. 

Add flour mixture to butter mixture, while stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula until combined. Stir in hazelnuts and white chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Spoon onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.

Here are my tips to get a fluffier cookie:

Let eggs sit in room temperature for 30 minutes. I let mine set out up to 60 minutes.

Let butter sit in room temperature for at least 3 hours.

Do not overmix your flour mix into your butter mixture. I always hesitate using a hand mixer at this point. It is much too easy to overmix.

Linking up with:

I {heart} Naptime, Tatertots & Jello, Sweet As Sugar Cookies, Mommy's Sweet Confessions, Seven Thirty Three, Every Creative Endeavor, Chef In Training, Lady Bug Blessings, Sugar Bee Crafts, @ Home Take 2

In the Kitchen: Zombie Popcorn

Today's post is a recipe for candy coated popcorn. The recipe name is Red-Hot Popcorn, so original right? I'm not impressed. I think the name should be changed. So let's take a vote. All in favor of Zombie Popcorn?!? Wonderful! When you look at the above picture, doesn't it look eery. Like blood, maybe? It makes me think of zombies. And when you live with school age boys, then you learn a thing or two about zombies. Believe me, nothing is less impressive than the topic of zombies but... am I suppose to ignore my kids and their constant chattering? Depends on the day? I hear ya. I've been there too.

Anyways, let's switch topics. The new Rachel Ray magazine is in stores. October issue. I love that girl. She is such a chatter box and she seems like a scatter brain. I totally relate. Based on all her shows and books, I'm guessing she is also driven and as a result, successful. I admire that. I cannot pass up a Rachel Ray mag, especially if it has pumpkins on it. All the recipes screamed fall flavors, cozy, and amazing. Um, sign me up! However, 'buying and drooling' over pictures is completely separate from 'making recipes'. This month I am going to prove to the world there is a reason I buy this magazine... and it's not to collect them in a basket... after I look at pictures. 

The first chosen recipe is simple. Three ingredients and 15 minutes is all you need. It makes a fun snack for those school age boys who have zombies on the brain. Grab some popcorn kernels, red hots, and water, then head towards the stove.

Zombie Popcorn (or Red-Hot Popcorn)

5 cups air popped popcorn (not microwave popcorn)

1/2 cup Red Hots

1/4 cup water

Spread 5 cups of air popped popcorn on a parchment lined baking sheet. Set aside. Put red hots and water in a saucepan. Gradually heat over medium-low heat. Candy will boil at a low temperature. When candies are almost melted remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. Drizzle melted candies over the popcorn. Let cool.

From Everday with Rachel Ray. October 2012. 

It really is creepy, isn't it? Yes, I get hung up on things. Back to the recipe, here is what I learned. the candy coating did not harden like I had expected. It stayed gooey and gummy. Next time I will try to boil the candy for 5 minutes much like you do with caramel corn or peanut brittle. The magazine never states it will boil but at medium-low it does boil. I'm kind of disappointed the mag left me hanging on this one. Boiling sugar changes the composition totally, why wouldn't this be important to address? Overall, the recipe is Yum-O but messy.

   

Linking up with:

I {heart} Naptime, Tatertots & Jello, Weekend Blog Walk,  Sweet As Sugar Cookies, Mommy's Sweet Confessions, Seven Thirty Three, Every Creative Endeavor, Chef In Training.

Fall Favorite: Iced Pumpkin Cookies

It's September. The unofficial start of Fall and I've got pumpkins on the brain! This is my favorite Fall cookie by far. And because I do not live with like-minded pumpkin 
lovers...these are all mine!

Ingredients

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c. white sugar

1 c. canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

       

GLAZE

2 c. confectioners' sugar

3 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture. Mix until creamy. Next, mix in dry ingredients. Spoon cookie dough on cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with spoon.

To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 
teaspoon vanilla. Add more milk as needed, to achieve consistency.

Adapted from this Recipe at Allrecipes.com

Linking up with:
I {heart} Naptime, Tatertots & Jello, Weekend Blog Walk,  Sweet As Sugar Cookies, Mommy's Sweet Confessions, Seven Thirty Three, Every Creative Endeavor, Skip to My Lou

In the Kitchen: Lemon Poppyseed Cookies

One of my newest time suckers has been Pinterest. I can spend an hour just clicking through pictures of food, decorated rooms, crafts, and very randomly...manicures. The pathetic part is I'm not even a member, so I don't get to 'pin' things. Which means each time I visit I'm essentially starting from the beginning. I tell myself if I don't get involved then I'm less likely to be consumed. Oh the things I can convince myself to believe.

I have been drooling over these cookies for weeks. The recipe, Lemon Poppyseed Cookies is from Annie's Eats.  I managed enough time on Monday to whip up a batch of these yummy treats. The recipe calls for a kitchen mixer but I don't have one of those. I mixed everything by hand and the cookies were still perfect. They did make cookies before electricity, right?

The true test in this house is how kid-friendly something is. When the odds are 3 to 2 and more often, 3 to 1; the kids rule. My kids loved them! And this is a step away from our standard chocolate chip cookie recipes. The lemon poppyseed cookie is light and crumbly. The powder sugar and fresh squeezed lemon juice make a lightly sweetened glaze. However, I would recommend measuring your lemon juice because more than 2 Tbsp. might overpower the sugar. Final Verdict: A perfect coffee time cookie or guilt free dessert.