i am not a baker. baking is a science. to be an exceptional baker one needs a scale, top notch ingredients, really good tools and patience. i have a couple of these the scale isn't one of them. you give me a chicken and i can do just about anything; grill it, roast it, stuff it, and of course eat it. you ask me to create a masterpiece from flour, butter and eggs and i'm shaking in my slippers.
a good baker uses unsalted butter at room temperature. i don't ever buy unsalted butter and i don't have the patience to let it come to room temperature. instead i zap it in the microwave which i am sure changes it's chemical make up somehow. eggs should be at room temperature, never cold straight from the fridge, and you should crack into a separate bowl first just to make sure the egg is fresh and there are no stray shells.
don't over mix
don't over bake
plan ahead
sift
measure, measure and measure again
this is all too tedious for me. when i am in the mood to bake, which usually coincides with my monthly cycle, must be that motherly nesting instinct, i want to do it right then before the mood passes.
for some silly reason, once a year i agree to participate in a cookie exchange, hosted by one of the moms at my kid's school. this is not your average cookie exchange. there are rules...
~ must be homemade. this is an all out bake-off. time to bring your A game
~ main ingredient must be flour and butter. these cookies are not part of any diet.
~ must make 11 dozen. 1 dozen to share, 10 dozen to exchange
~ must turn in your recipe entry to the hostess by a certain date. the hostess prints a cookbook of all the entries every year.
there are also prizes to be won. possibilities to win fall into a few different categories; best display, best tasting, most unique and overall best damn cookie. i have a slight competitive edge and have always wanted to win the grand champion prize, but i have never even received a special recognition in any category. this is not a huge surprise i suck at baking.
i typically spend at least a week, sometimes two, searching for the perfect holiday cookie recipe. i look for something different, something easy, and a batch that makes a lot. seeing as how i don't have the patience for baking, a batch that makes a lot at one time is right up my alley.
this year i went with an orange creamsicle cookie. i found the recipe on pinterest, my latest obsession. citrus in a cookie always seems holiday-ish to me. i don't particularly care for citrus in my cookies, but this isn't about my taste this about winning. the ingredient list was simple. this recipe made 4 dozen cookies in one batch. this cookie didn't involve rolling into balls, using my rolling pin to cut dough into cutesy shapes, or smooshing them down with a fork or bottom of a glass. this is a drop cookie, hallelujah! i did embellish my cookie with orange sugar crystals, which was a little labor intensive, but again this is about winning.
so the big taste test. my tasters are always my kids. ash, who doesn't like anything didn't like these either. he took one bite, crinkled up his face and said, "i don't like them." i really wasn't too surprised he hasn't liked any of the cookies i have made of late (banana peanut butter cup cookies, molasses cookies, or the sugar cookie with almond joy pieces in them) he is a basic cookie lover...chocolate chip. P on the other hand thought they were great. she wanted another. i took this as a good sign.
my opinion, i had ash's leftover, i thought they were good. straight out of the oven, the white chocolate chips (the cream part) was all melty and gooey. there was just enough orange zest to get a good orange flavor but not overpowering, and there is enough butter in them that any butter fan would drool. i think the most remarkable thing was they tasted just like an orange creamsicle.
i have just one question. i had to zest 6 oranges. what in the world do i do with 6 nude navel oranges?
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