Marathon Cookie Baking

The other day, I baked 380 cookies. Three hundred and eighty. Cookies. I went through four pounds of butter. I ran out of flat surfaces in my house to cool them on. It was absolutely crazy and I loved every minute of it. The purpose of this all-day baking blitz was to make up trays to give to coworkers, neighbors, and family for the holidays. This was the first year that I covered everyone on my own, so it was a real challenge.

Laying everything out was key. I usually grab stuff from the cabinet as I need it, but this was no ordinary baking session. The only problem was that it took up precious counter space, so I ended up covering the dining room table with wax paper and using it for a giant cooling rack. No pictures of that, it was horrible.

I started pretty early in the morning (10:00 AM is super early unless I'm going to work) and I was rotating pans trying to be as efficient as possible. I don't think I'll be doing that again unless I get another timer. My timing scheme that was based on the time of the previous pan broke down disappointingly quickly, so I switched to a single batch at a time in the afternoon.

My (still relatively) new baking stone has been working wonderfully. It makes perfect cookies every time and I think I just might like it more than my trusty tin pans. I know I'm probably ages late in figuring out that stone bakes better than metal. Also, it fit 20 mini Snickerdoodles at a time. That was so awesome.

I also made Peanut Butter Corn Flake Balls again. They're simple, easy, and everyone loves them. You really can't go wrong with these things, it's amazing.


Here's a picture of a tray being assembled. The stack in the back is Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate. They're surrounded by mini Snickerdoodles, with the Peanut Butter Corn Flake Balls in the middle, and Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip cookies in the foreground on the right. Also there is a horrible box of plastic wrap ruining the picture in the background. Yay for forgetting to set up the picture properly!

Here are a few of the completed trays. I had 13 total, with quite a few cookies left over for my immediate family. They all turned out pretty well, although some were a bit drier than I would have liked. I was afraid of having too few so I doubled each recipe and tried to make the cookies a bit on the small side. This completely backfired. Recipes that supposedly yielded 20-40 (I estimated 30, so 60 when doubled) ended up making 140. More than twice the generous estimate!

My favorite out of the bunch is probably the Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate. They were crispy and chewy, sweet and salty all at the same time, which was really neat. Even though I couldn't find the right kind of sea salt locally (supposed to use the flake kind), it worked out. I'll definitely be adding these to the list of cookies to bake for special occasions.

Here's where I got the recipes:
Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate - Smitten Kitchen
Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip - Carmen Cooks
Snickerdoodles - Oven Haven

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Homemade Cookie Day!

So I guess today is Homemade Cookie Day. Last night, my mom and I baked four batches of these (about 120 cookies) and we both took them to work today. They're pretty time-consuming to make with all the different steps, but man they are worth it.

And don't mind the photo - it's one I took from the last time we made these, about a year ago. I was going to take a better picture to post, but... I ate all the leftover cookies.

Recipe courtesy Bake or Break.

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Oreo Truffles

So I've made these a few times now, and they are delicious. Seriously, I think these things have utterly ruined plain Oreo cookies for me. I will forever be disappointed by the cookie itself, and it's all thanks to this quick (and fun) little recipe.

Oreo Truffles Recipe adapted from Bakerella.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole package of regular Oreo cookies
• 8oz. cream cheese, room temperature
  
• 1 package white chocolate or vanilla bark/candy coating

Recipe:

1. Split the cookies and, using a butter knife, scrape the filling off. Place the cookies and filling in separate bowls.
2. Using a food processor (or a more manual method if you're patient - I wasn't, ha) crush the cookies into a relatively fine dust.
3. Mix together the cookie crumbs and cream cheese, using a large spoon to mash it all together. Make sure it's combined well.
4. Using your own judgment, add filling until there are hardly any loose crumbs left. I usually used between one-quarter and one-third of the filling. You could use all of it if you wanted to though.
5. Form the mixture into balls and place on wax paper in preparation for the next step.
6. Melt the bark or coating as directed on the package.
7. Using a pair of spoons, roll the balls around in the melted bark until covered, then place back on the wax paper.
8. Let the coating harden, then refrigerate for about an hour (not necessary, but they taste better).

These guys will keep easily for a few days in the fridge (remember, there's cream cheese in there). Also, be careful who you share these with; they'll likely keep bugging you to make more!

Peanut Butter Corn Flake Balls

She was right; holy crap, these are amazing cookies. It's a much more fitting name.

These little guys are really easy to make (no baking!) and taste awesome. Not that I don't like to bake or anything (I love baking) but sometimes you just don't want to mess with the oven, you know? All these cookies require from you though is a little bit of boiling, some mixing, and that you get creative (re: messy) with some melted chocolate. I melted it in the microwave. How easy is that?!

Ingredients:

• 1c. granulated sugar
• 1c. corn syrup (I used light, not dark)
• 1 18oz. jar of peanut butter (creamy)
• 6 cups corn flakes
• chocolate to drizzle on top (I used about 4 oz.)

Recipe:

1. Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring regularly, until it comes to a full boil.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the entire jar of peanut butter. Yes, the whole jar. I love peanut butter. Mix until the consistency is uniform.
3. Put the corn flakes in a large bowl (make sure you have enough room to stir it all around). Pour the peanut butter mixture over the corn flakes and mix well. Be sure to stir up the bottom of the bowl; I had a lot of peanut butter settle which led to a few cookies being more peanut butter than corn flakes (not that I minded).
4. Using a pair of tablespoons, scoop out the mixture, pack it a bit, and place on wax paper.
5. Melt the chocolate, either in the microwave or in a pot over a larger pot full of boiling water.
6. Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies (I dipped a spoon in the chocolate and used a whipping motion over the cookies. Looks great, but makes for a dirty countertop).
7. Allow time to cool.
   
8. Eat them!

I didn't take too much care to make sure they were completely sealed (or even covered properly) and they were good for a few days. Of course, they were gone before I could test exactly how long they'll keep for.