When life hands you lemons...

You gotta crack some eggs!  And grate some butter, and whisk some flour and sugar, and turn them into some of the best Lemon Bars I've had in some time.  Martha Stewart's Cookies rules again.

We picked about a half dozen Meyer Lemons off the patio trees, and had to turn them into something tasty. And thanks to the way that deconstruction has taken place, I was able to make the Lemon Bars from Martha's book this weekend.  I zested the skins into the lemon custard portion, hoping for that little extra zing, and found it successful.  I think my pan was an 8x12 instead of the 9x13 requested by the recipe, but that just led to a thicker shortcake and custard in each bar.  I must say they are quite delish.  If you get a chance, I'd say go for it!

Cookie of the Week

This week - Cappuccino Chocolate Bites.  Just that perfect little cookie when you need some coffee and chocolate.  These cookies are so fragile, that you need to be extremely delicate when you slather on the filling to turn them into sandwiches.  The delicacy follows through in the light coffee flavor of the shortbread cookie and the whipped chocolate ganache' that fills them.  All in all - YUM.

However, these cookies have a lot of "wait" time - mix the dough, chill for 30 minutes, sit for 10 minutes, roll the dough, (and if you re-roll the dough for more cookies, it needs to chill - again - for 10 minutes) freeze for 10 minutes, bake for 10 minutes, rest for 5 minutes, move to racks and let cool.  Mix the ganache, chill for at least 30 minutes, whip, spread and chill some more.  Not a quick cookie.  And it's not a large batch.  I used 1 3/8 " round cookie cutters, and was only able to eek out 18 sandwiches.  That's a small cookie - maybe a bit larger than the end of your thumb.  Don't count on making these to take to a cookie exchange.

Notes:  I had some leftover mousse from the cupcakes which made a delicious sandwich filling as well.  When I whipped up the chocolate ganache for the filling, my bowl and beaters were still warm from the dishwasher and the frosting "broke".  Still tasty, but a bit grainy where it wouldn't have been if  my tools had been even room temperature.

Cookie Time!

This past weekend, I made Chocolate Malt Sandwich cookies from one of my many cookbooks.  Mark keeps asking me why I bake, and I keep telling him, because I enjoy it!  Just because I don't need the cookies, doesn't mean that I shouldn't make them, just that I shouldn't eat (all of) them.  Little do they know, but the co-workers should start to expect the weekly cookie treats to begin, because I'm planning on baking a new variety each week. 

From the recipe, I have the following notes:

• I had a hard time finding the malt powder, until our trip to Arizona last year, and there it was staring me in the face.  I mean, there are plenty of things to bring home from the Grand Canyon, but who knew that Malted Milk Powder was one of them?  Now I will probably see it every where I go.
• Instead of creme fraiche', I used a 50/50 mix of cream cheese and heavy whipping cream.  I have those ingredients in my fridge nearly all the time, creme fraiche' however, is hard to find even when I'm looking for it.  All the recipe sites say that you could substitute sour cream, but that the creme is sweeter than sour cream.  My substitution seemed to work just fine.
• I used my tiny ice cream scoop for consistent cookie sizes.  There's nothing that'll frustrate you like trying to sandwich two different size cookies.  This made about 90 cookies, or 45 sandwiches instead of the 18 the recipe indicates.
• The frosting is a bit bitter with the semi-sweet chips - I'd probably go with the milk chocolate next time or a 50/50 mix here as well.
• And be generous with the frosting, there's plenty to do all the cookies with a nice slather. 

The cookies are rich with chocolate, although I couldn't pick out the malt flavor.  The smaller size is just perfect for your afternoon coffee break, and are fantastic with a cold glass of milk.

Christmas Cookies

(unrelated picture)

This past Christmas, Chris and I made a handful of cookies out of Martha Stewart's Cookies Book. We ended up making:

• Snickerdoodles: These cookies didn't spread as much as I expected, and were soft and quite tasty.
• Citrus Cornmeal Shortbread: If I make these again, I'll definitely up the level of zest and probably add some extract as well. The citrus portion was sadly lacking. Also, roll the cornmeal prior to chilling so that it sticks. Still, I'm not throwing them away.
• Rosemary Butter Cookies: If you are looking for a cookie fix, this isn't it. If you have a tea tray, these will make an interesting counterpoint to the sweet cookies. Skip the egg wash and sanding sugar.
• Chocolate Crackles: Rich, chocolate, puffs of cookie, covered in powdered sugar. Num. We used Guittard French Vanilla Chocolate instead of the bittersweet, and I am glad. I can't imagine if we had used the bittersweet.
• Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies: Slap-your-mama delicious! Oh my. These are the cookies that Chris and I both lusted after and secretly ate behind each other's backs. They are rich and chewy and mmmm good.

I still have a load of cookies, and I think I'll deliver a batch to work tomorrow. Just to get them out of my house. Too bad there's no gingerbread left!