Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My son loves to eat a piping hot bowl of oatmeal for breakfast everyday. He never gets tired of it. So when I had just one egg left in the egg cartoon and the expiry date looming on me I decided to try these utterly delicious, chewy oatmeal cookies. Needless to say it was a big hit with friends and family.

I adapted this recipe from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich. I love the way she arranged the cookies recipes according to their textures. So this recipe was under the chewy section. I love all the different textures in this cookie, the edges are crunchy, center is soft and chewy and the raisins and walnuts also add a nice textural contrast in each bite. I will definitely be making this recipe again and again.

Shortbread Cookie

It has been 19 years since I left my secondary school ( or high school as it is known here ). I was reminded of this fact, very recently, when my old school friend visited me from Ghana. It is so hard to believe that so much time has passed by. It really doesn't feel that long to me. It is as if my body and my mind are aging differently. My body, the traitor, has to be so darn honest and make sure that I look my age ! My mind on the other hand is carefree and will always remain young, forever. Now if only my body can be more like my mind then there is nothing else left to desire for. I think you should always be only as old as you think.

So all this re-visiting the past brought to mind one of my favorite cookies called the Shortbread cookie that I immensely enjoyed in my childhood. When I saw this recipe in Tartine, I knew I had to make it and I was not disappointed. She has such a wonderful line up of recipe that would make anyone drool. Next I am going to try her croissants.

This rich, delicate cookie that instantly crumbles and melts in your mouth was loved by everyone at our home. It is not a very sweet cookie, so if this is your first time having a shortbread do not be alarmed by the lack of sweetness that is commonly associated with cookies. As a matter of fact the sweetness is enhanced by the sugar that gets sprinkled on top. I will definitely be making this recipe over and over again.

Giant Ginger Cookies

These cookies are to die for ( no kidding! ). These cookies will convert even the non-ginger lover in your family. Huge, thick, moist, melt-in-your mouth are just some of the adjectives to describe this cookie. One bite and you will feel all the spices in this cookie warming your throat and belly. These spices are so appropriate for the fall and winter season, as we call them warming spices.

Carole Walters really knows how to make cookies. One of my favorite cookies from her book Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets are these Giant Ginger Cookies. My five year old loves these cookie and even though chocolate chip cookies are his all time favorite he will take this cookie over that any day.


Anna from Cookie Madness added some cayenne to this recipe, which I tried and absolutely loved. I used all butter instead of half butter and half shortening. So to counteract the over spreading of the cookie during baking I refrigerate my dough for 30 minutes before baking. I also omitted the 1/3 cup of sparkly sugar to roll the cookie dough in before baking as I did not want to make them sweet and did not want the change in texture the crunchiness would provide. These are not your store bought ginger cookies, so hard that you need to re-count your teeth every time you bite into one. These are huge and so soft that they melt in your mouth. This is my fourth batch already this season !! Thank you so much Anna for tempting me to try out these cookies. These are now one of my most favorite cookies to make.

 

Rangoli Decorated Sugar Cookies

I recently joined a group of very creative and enthusiastic bakers called ' The Daring Bakers '. Every month you are supposed to create something new based on who is hosting that month. The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

I was so excited as I love sugar cookies as much as my five year old. Mandy requested that we use her sugar cookie recipe, which I have written below. I have also posted two different royal icing recipes; one using meringue powder ( the one I used ) and one using fresh egg whites ( recipe provided by Mandy ). The cookies are really great to decorate. They taste good and maintain their shape during baking and also are not very fragile. I rolled my cookies to 1/4 " thickness and baked for 11 minutes,and they came out great.

The theme of my cookies are Rangolis. September marks the advent of our major festivals and it continues throughout the fall season. Rangolis are generally drawn outside the main entrance of the home, but during the festival season the Rangolis become even more colorful and intricate. I thought it would be a good idea to make Rangoli cookies to give as gifts during this season. I really enjoyed making them. This is my first attempt at decorating cookies with royal icing so please bear with me. My only tip is to let the outline dry before filling in the colors. I used the Wilton Gel Icing Colors ; the Red ( no taste), Royal Blue, Kelly Green, Buttercup Yellow, Pink, Violet and Orange. The way I did it was that I first outlined the base and let it dry overnight. Next day I outlined the design and let it dry for a couple of hours and then lastly I added the color and let the whole thing dry for another 12 hours.


Rangoli Decorated Sugar Cookie