Tag Archives: Spring cookies

Strawberry Glazed Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies

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I’m not as skilled as I would like to be in decorating cookies and cakes. In my next life I’d like to come back with the talents of cookie artist Patti Page. I’m constantly working on building my skill level and always on the lookout for tools to make me look more professional.

When I saw this cookie press on Etsy, I ordered it immediately. Wooden tools like this fall under the “embossing” category. They leave an imprint in the dough that makes you look like a decorating pro. I have had some experience with similar tools when I made these Embossed Brown Sugar Cookies.

Often the carving in the tool is not deep enough, so that when you bake the dough, the imprint disappears, like when I tried my heart rolling pin on these mini apple pies. I have also had issues with the dough sticking to the cutter or rolling pin.

I did a lot of experimenting when baking these cookies and developed what I found was a foolproof way of getting perfect cookies. And surprisingly, flour was not the best way to prevent sticking! Check out the video to see my method.

The brilliant rosy hue of the glaze is totally natural, thanks to the addition of freeze-dried strawberries. They pack a wallop of strawberry flavour. I add a bit of lemon juice to the glaze to balance out all that icing sugar.

The best word to describe the texture of these cookies is plush. Thick and slightly chewy, they are so satisfying to eat.

Click here to print recipe for Strawberry -Glazed-Chewy-Brown-Sugar-Cookies-revDownload

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Strawberry Rhubarb Macarons

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Sometimes beautiful cookies suffer from being overly sweet, or just bland. But these” pretty in pink” macarons are intensely strawberry flavoured , with just a hint of rhubarb, adding a welcome punch of acid. Springtime personified, all in one little cookie.

Macarons (not to be confused with macaroons) have a reputation for being difficult to make. Essentially, a macaron is made from ground almonds, powdered sugar and egg whites. Seems simple enough but so much can go wrong. They are a tricky little cookie. If you overmix, or undermix, fail to measure correctly, overbake or underbake you won’t get the pretty frilly “feet” or smooth surface. You need to pay attention to every step of the process.

But, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. There are two methods by which macarons can be created, the French meringue method and the Italian meringue method. Most macaron recipes out there follow the French method.

In the Italian method, the sugar is boiled into a syrup, and once it reaches 240°F, it is carefully incorporated into the egg whites. In the French method, the raw sugar is added into the egg whites. I had only ever tried the French method. While on the surface it would seem that the French method is simpler, no dealing with candy thermometers and boiling hot syrup, you need to consider the benefits of that extra step of boiling the sugar. Cooking the sugar into a syrup creates a more stable macaron batter.

Making the meringue using the Italian method creates a stiffer meringue, more stable and able to withstand a lot more mixing without deflating it too soon. The results are more reliable when making the macarons using this method. I started using this method 2 years ago and I have had perfect macarons ever since.

Freeze dried strawberries are added to the macaron shell, to aid in achieving that pretty pink colour. They are also used in the buttercream filling, to create an intense strawberry flavour. A dollop of rhubarb jam goes in the centre of all that buttercream.

I’ve had these adorable butterfly sprinkles in my cupboard for a few years now. I used melted white chocolate to “glue” them on.

For a second decorating option, I drizzled the macarons with white chocolate and then sprinkled some freeze-dried strawberry crumbs on them. Also very pretty! Which design do you prefer?

Click here for my very detailed recipe for Strawberry-Rhubarb-Macarons-Download

Rhubarb Raspberry Pistachio Rugelach

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When the adorable Molly wrote about Rugelach filled with rhubarb jam, she kind of blew my mind. First of all, I adore rhubarb. What a brilliant idea to stuff it into buttery flaky rugelach dough. Secondly, you can make jam out of rhubarb? How did I not know that?

As I read through Molly’s recipe, I was surprised by her addition of 2 eggs to the dough. Traditional rugelach dough does not contain eggs. I was curious to see what the addition of eggs would do to the dough.

Battle rugelach was on. I made two batches. The first used Molly’s dough, with eggs, and the second was my favourite rugelach dough from Mindy Segal, without eggs. I had a statistically significant sample group of 5 taste testers, (my family), and the decision was unanimous. While eggs play a vital role in many baking projects, they have no business cracking their way into rugelach dough. We all found that the texture of the dough with the eggs was far too tender and puffy. Plus, the eggy taste overwhelmed the tanginess of the cream cheese in the dough.

The second change I made was to add a few tablespoons of raspberry jam to the rhubarb jam. I liked the colour and taste of the combined filling better. I thought that rhubarb jam would be hard to find but several stores here in Ottawa carried the Bonne Maman brand.

I have used the slice and roll method for forming my rugelach. The delicate crescent shape is very pretty. Although the crescent shape is a bit more work, I prefer it to the roll and slice method, where the dough is rolled up jellyroll style and cut.

Check out my video to see how it all comes together.

https://youtu.be/qVg1pGBPEro

Rich and nutty pistachios provide a great contrast to the tart raspberry-rhubarb filling. It’s a great flavour combo. These little cookies pack a big flavour punch.

Finished with a flurry of icing sugar, these rugelach are sure to become a favourite at your house.

Click here to print recipe for Raspberry Pistachio RugelachDownload