Cookie virgin

[Hilary1220]

I've never baked cookies from scratch, and had been invited to a cookie swap. I believe there will be about 10 women there and I need to make half a dozen for each of them. I am Jewish, and the host celebrates Chrismukkah, so any type of holiday cookie would be great. I would appreciate any direction or guidance from experienced cookie makers.

 

[DenLach]

basically its cream the butter with the sugars. Then mix in the eggs and then the remaining wet ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients together before adding to the wet mix. let dough chill for a bit before using. Most cookies follow this procedure. Hope this helps

 

[J13]

I am Jewish, and the host celebrates Chrismukkah, so any type of holiday cookie would be great. I would appreciate any direction or guidance from experienced cookie makers.

For a holiday cookie swap you want cookies that are easy on your schedule (like you can make the dough ahead of time and bake them when you have time), and will last—or even get better as the days go by, as people will take them home and eat them over the week. So, you don’t want cookies that easily go stale.

As for Chrismukkah...Russian “tea cake” cookies are often thought of as a Jewish holiday cookie...AND as traditional Christmas cookie. These are the cookies that are warm spices inside and dusted with confectioners sugar outside. Here’s a very easy recipe for a batch with a twist that makes their warm, spicy flavor a bit more “spicy.”’ You can make the dough ahead of time and bake the cookies the day before. And they last.

Things to remember: (1) Bake the cookies in the middle-upper racks of the oven for good circulation and so they won’t burn on the bottoms, (2) make sure trays are lined with parchment or non-stick foil to avoid that burning as well. (3) Preheat oven 15 minutes before you plan to bake the cookies. (4) A cookie scoop (looks like a mini-ice cream scoop) is a *must* for cookie making. It makes the cookie making go faster, and makes sure you have evenly sized cookies so all get done at the same time. It also helps to keep your hands from getting sticky with batter. You’ll want the smaller size (2T)—they sell them all over. Here’s an example: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/oxo-cookie-scoop/

Chai Tea Cake Cookies
~Dry Ingredients:
2 C All purpose flour
1 C almond flour (found in baking aisle)
½ t salt

The spices blow can be replaced by 1 T chai spice which you can sometimes find in certain stores in the baking aisle. Don’t worry if you can’t find it...just mix up the spices below to create it....

1/2 t finely ground pepper
1 t cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
½ t ground cardamom
Pinch of ground clove

~Wet Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter
½ cup confectioners/powdered sugar sifted.
1 t vanilla

~Directions:

Mix together dry goods: flours, salt, spices.

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar till pale and fluffy. Add vanilla. Gradually add flour mix and beat on low till dough forms. Stop soon as it comes together.You don’t want to over beat.

TIP: you can make this dough ahead and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.

When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat oven 325°

Scoop tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Transfer to parchment lined sheets spacing balls 1” apart. Bake on upper-middle racks 15-18 minutes, rotating sheets half-way through. Cookies will be set and golden on the bottoms. Cool for 5 minutes.

Place confectioners sugar in a small bowl. Roll cookies in sugar and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks (meaning your cookies will stay delicious and edible long after the cookie swap). Before taking them to holiday swap, coat with more powdered sugar.

 

[J13]

Picture of the cookie:

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I've never baked cookies from scratch, and had been invited to a cookie swap. I believe there will be about 10 women there and I need to make half a dozen for each of them. I am Jewish, and the host celebrates Chrismukkah, so any type of holiday cookie would be great. I would appreciate any direction or guidance from experienced cookie makers.

The most important thing about creaming butter is understanding it is NOT about mixing butter and sugar. It is mechanical leavening. As such, the temperature of the butter is critical.


NEVER use room temperature butter—ever!! It’s the biggest lie in baking. No baker in a commercial bakery uses room temperature butter. You would break the emulsion. The cookies would be flatter than pancakes.



Every thing you need to know about creaming butter is in the video below.





https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/12/cookie-science-creaming-butter-sugar.html

 

[J13]

FYI: The Chai Tea Cookie recipe makes about 3 dozen. If you need 60 cookies, then double the recipe. You can scoop out and mold into balls the first batch; put the batter in the refrigerator till that first batch is done, then scoop out and create the seco and bake the 2nd batch.

OR you can make all the cookies and refrigerate/freeze for later. Here is how: make up all the dough into cookies. Crowd as many of those round raw balls of dough on a parchment lined baking tray (or two) as you can. If you have room in the refrigerator, keep the tray in the refrigerator till it’s time to bake up the cookies. Spread out the ones to bake, and put the remainder back in the refrigerator. Repeat.

OR...Put that tray (or two) of raw, ready to bake cookies in the freezer till they’re nice and, well, mostly frozen (i.e. not likely to stick together), then pop them into plastic bags for storage in the freezer.

Bake up as instructed when you’re ready. And yes, you can do this with lots of different cookie recipes. Scoop them out, then freeze them up, keep them in bags, and then bake them up at a moment’s notice for when guests drop in or you’re just craving cookies to go with your evening cup of coffee/tea/milk. Make sure to label freezer bags with name of cookie, temperature to bake at and time. Frozen cookies (obviously) may need to bake a few minutes longer.