SMS – Chestnut Honey Madeleines

I. Love. Madeleines.

I love them so much that they are my go-to treat with my coffee at Starbucks. That I daydream about different flavor combinations. I love them so much that I named my kitty after them. Everyone say hi to Madeleine 🙂

Wanna know a little secret? I didn’t own a madeleine pan until a few weeks ago. Oh, and I have never made them before now. To be honest I didn’t think I could do these delightful cookies justice.

But the only push in the right direction that I needed was to read the word “honey.” It was all down hill from there.

You see, honey is another infatuation of mine. My breakfast on most weekdays consists of one whole wheat tortilla, 1/2 spread with peanut butter and the other 1/2 with honey. So. Good.

Anyway, madeleines + honey = pure bliss.

These baked up a bit darker than I imagined they would but other than that… they are perfect. Soft to the touch, slightly dense but tender crumb, wonderful honey flavor. Perfectly paired with an afternoon tea or coffee. Sprinkled with powdered sugar or glazed with pure honey… not that I know anyone who did that……..

My only regret: only making a dozen. Doh!

A BIG thank you goes out to Debbie of Café Chibita for choosing these!! Head on over to her blog today for the recipe. And be sure to check out the other bloggers who baked along this week.

Up next week: Ginger Snaps!

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SMS – Sugar Cookies

I heart sugar cookies. Mainly because it gives me an excuse to break out the cookie cutters!

Cookie cutters = fun!

I baked all of this months recipes in about a week to give myself some time to bake other things that aren’t “assignments.”

I baked these a few days before valentines day and kept them tightly wrapped in the fridge until I was ready to use the dough.

It came together very quickly, but was a pain in the patella to roll out. I tried avoiding the floury, messy surface and rolled between two sheets of wax paper but even after letting the dough rest on the counter for half an hour, it was still so cold and solid. BUT eventually I got it to a workable temperature, cut out my cute hearts and baked em.

Only to be let down. There are ridiculously bland and (this may be my fault) oddly cakey in texture. I had to give these a flavor other than “bland” so I coated the tops in red and pink candy melts (melted, of course) that tasted like white chocolate. It made them edible, but not great. I packed em away with some brownies (I’ll post about those later) in a red tub and shipped em off to my sister and brother. I also added white chocolate chips to half the batter for my fiance as I was giving them to him as a sweet Vday surprise.

All in all, it’s not the worst thing that has come out of my oven, but certainly not the best.

A big thanks to Nina of Nina’s Cupcakes for choosing this recipe which was easy to throw together, which is always refreshing. Head over to her blog for the recipe.

TWD – Mrs. Vogel’s Scherben

For some reason, wordpress won’t pull up on my computer right now. SOO I have decided to attemp using my blackberry to at least SAY that I did make the scherven.

If my computer is cooperative *crosses fingers* I will post pics tomorrow.
And an explanation. I hope you all understand.
Also, when writing this, the words are invisible on my screen so I hope there aren’t too many spelling errors 🙂

**Alrighty, time to update now that WordPress isn’t shunning my computer (well, totally at least).

I am a southern girl and I have never deep fried anything before. Yes, I live in Texas. Yes, I love it here (aside from the painful summer humidity). Yes, I indulge in some fried foods. No, I have not fried any myself.

Must be some stigma against setting my APARTMENT ON FIRE! Ha. All joking aside, I don’t much care for the smell or the process. I somehow manage to burn myself frying eggs, I could just imagine the worst case scenario with a whole ton of hot oil. Oy.

But, I braved the circumstances. Sadly, mine didn’t turn out too well. The only thing I didn’t follow was that I used veggie oil (it was either that or olive oil) and I only used about 2 inches (twas all I had left). They browned VERY quickly and didn’t crumple and twist and distort in my pan the way they appear in the picture. Without the powdered sugar, they are a bland but with it, they are better. My mom LOVED them though!! She said they reminded her of something my Oma used to make for her: they are soft in texture but the same idea. So I’m hoping she can show me how to make her version so I can share it with ya’ll!

Thanks to Teanna of Spork or Foon? for choosing this recipe and helping me over come my fear of setting a grease fire 😉 Go to her blog to get the recipe and check out her other goodies, I promise you’ll find something to suit your tastebuds!!

TWD – Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

Third time’s a charm.

I can’t tell you hooow many times I’ve heard this simple phrase and paid it no mind, gave it no attention, practically ignored it. No more.

I’m a changed gal. And I have these cookies to thank.

First batch: set timer for 12 minutes. Didn’t look done, tacked on another two. Crunchy, hard cookies.   😦

Second batch: set timer for 10 minutes. Still didn’t look done, tacked on another two. Slightly overly crunchy cookies.   :((

Third batch: set timer for 10 minutes. Decided I was taking them out to see what would happen. DEEEEELISH soft and chewy cookies.  😀

Third time was a charm. Oh man, were these delicious. I ate a third of the batch by myself, made some into yummy ice cream sandwiches, and shared the rest with co-workers. They are all gone now and I’m left with one regret:

That I didn’t bake more. ( Or share less ;D )

These scream HOLIDAYS and beg to be put in that goodie bag or care package. They beg to be shared over hot tea and good conversation.   🙂

For the recipe, head over to Pam at Cookies With Boys and for pointers and tips, go here.

More pics.

SMS – Snickerdoodles!

Let me start off by waving caution banners wildly in the air and yelling “DANGER!!!”

Yes, these cookies ARE that dangerous. Dangerously DELICIOUS! Take it from a woman who is her harshest critic… these are chewy, cinnamon-sugary, melt in your mouth monsters! And I can’t seem to stop eating them.

My batch yielded 32 cookies and I swear I’ve eaten more than half the batch all. by. myself. I’m not ashamed. But I won’t hold my breath for that thank you note from my mid-section.

They were ridiculously easy to throw together! Again, take this from a woman with snickerdoodle experience. My first shot at them (following a different recipe) was a DISASTER! Think puddles of cinnamon butter that crusted into a paper thin, completely inedible mockery of a cookie. I still shudder to this day at the very thought. *shudder*

But you, my dear reader will have success with these! Scouts honor! You might already have everything you need on hand! The hardest part is waiting for that never ending hour to pass as the dough cools in the refridgerator. My cookies were beautifully done at 11 minutes (the directions didn’t say to switch the cookie sheets for even baking, but I did half way through baking).

*my baker’s note: my cookies usually fall flat and are never chewy so I took some precautions to ensure that these had a fighting chance. Here are my personal tips if your cookies tend to fall flatter than you’d like:

• Buy new baking soda. Better safe than sorry.
• Refridgerate the dough for the entire noted time. You’ll be glad you did!
• Work quickly when rolling the cookies and pop them back in the fridge (entire cookie sheet and all) for a few mins before putting them in the oven.
• DON’T overbake!! Keep a close eye on the cookies. You want slightly golden edges but a pale center.

Visit Spike’s blog Spike.bakes for the recipe.

My blog was supposed to be posted yesterday, and I apologize that it wasn’t. I wasn’t feeling well and I couldn’t get myself to a computer. Better late than never??

Click here for more pictures of these cookies.