Remember when you came home from school and you could smell something
really delicious
Remember
coming home from school, opening the door and you could smell something
delicious? What had Mom been baking? You plop down your books and run to the
kitchen. And there you seem them - cookies cooling on a rack. Immediately you
yell - MOM! Can I have a cookie? Want this to happen at your house?
With so much of our time spent at jobs, or transporting kids from one
activity to another - do Moms or Dads have time for made-from-scratch baking?
Don't let your hectic fast-paced lives curtail those luscious treats at your
house. We have some suggestions for ingredients, tools, and recipes to bring
those wonderful aromas back to the kitchen.
Quick ingredients or mixes:
Don't have any cookie dough in the
refrigerator? Keep our
Sugar Cookie Mix on hand for roll-out cookies anytime. Simply add water,
roll out, cut and bake. This is a great time saver for when you want to make
decorated cookies. By cutting down on cookie preparation, you leave more time
for icing and decorating.
Instead of using cookie cutters, try
stamping instead.
Stamping
cookies leaves an impression in the cookie before baking. Roll sugar cookie
mix or gingerbread into a ball, and push down with stamp. You can even cut and
stamp the cookies at the same time with
push and print
cutters - try our Halloween designs. For decorating, simply
add colored
sanding sugar before baking. If you want more detailed decorations, after
baking pipe lines with icing or use
food decorating
pens to draw or highlight stamped design.
When decorating fancy cookies, you
may wish to use run-on frosting. Most of the time this is made with royal icing
to create a firm surface for even more decorating. For a fast icing, just add
water to our
Royal Icing Mix. It is perfect for gingerbread houses, creating flowers and
by thinning slightly you have run sugar icing.
How about
microwaveable icing - no mixing needed. This ready-to-use icing is in a
squeeze bottle for easy application or writing and drawing on cookies. It comes
in white and other seasonal colors and dries smooth.
Now that you have shortcuts for
mixing and decorating, save money and time during the baking...
More efficient baking tools:
Adjustable measuring
cups are what is needed for sticky ingredients like peanut butter,
margarine. Twist the cup to desired amount, fill it up with ingredient and then
push up to slide the ingredients out. There is no need for a spatula to dig out
the corners of the cup! No waste and no mess which means less clean-up.
Our
Cookie Release Dropper and Scoop
is a one-handed gadget that keeps your fingers from getting sticky. Dip the
spoon into cookie dough and simply squeeze the handle. The dough is pushed off
the spoon like a little shovel and onto the cookie sheet ready for baking.
Don't worry about burning - all your
cookies will be delicious when you use an
AireGourmet
Insulated baking sheet. The built-in air space between 2 sheets of
professional quality aluminum inside the pan offers better heat control.
The bottom sheet protects the top sheet from intense heat. The surface resists
sticking and scratching.
Save time and energy with the
3-in-1 Baking
Rack Insert. Assemble the rack and it's like having extra racks in your
oven. It is big enough to accommodate 3 cookie sheets and working in conjunction
with the existing racks in your oven, you can be baking 4 sheets of cookies at
once! Have all your cookies ready for that fundraiser in no time and save energy
costs!
Use an
oversized cookie
spatula to remove the cookies from the baking sheet. You can pick up more
than one at a time so transfer time is shortened.
With all these handy gadgets you
are saving time while baking cookies - at least 20-30 minutes.
Quicker recipes:
Cookie Dough
Fun. This cookbook includes recipes that all start with refrigerated cookie
dough. It includes bars, cupcakes, as well as cookies. Makes time in the kitchen
more profitable and less consuming.
Old Fashioned
Cookies- Find all your old favorites in this easy to use cookbook. Over 200
recipes to choose from with a whole section devoted to chocolate chip cookies
and variations.
Try these
recipes for some quick home-baked treats:
Large cookies
for the monsters in your house! You can cut this recipe in half or in quarters.
Use a recipe
divider.
Monster Cookies
Mix first eight
ingredients thoroughly in a very large bowl. Slowly stir in oatmeal. Then add
the chocolate chips, M & M’s and the peanuts. Drop by tablespoon on greased
cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. You may cut this recipe in
half or quarter.
Chewy Brownie Cookies
-
2/3 cup shortening
-
1-1/2 cups firmly packed light
brown sugar
-
1 tablespoon water
-
1 teaspoon
vanilla
-
2 large eggs
-
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
-
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
-
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Combine
shortening, light brown sugar, water and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat
with electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Beat eggs into creamed
mixture. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Mix into creamed mixture at
low speed until just blended. Drop rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 2 inches
apart onto
ungreased baking sheet. Bake one baking sheet at a time at 375°F for 7
minutes, or until cookies are set. Cookies will appear soft and moist, so make
sure to watch your time and don't over bake. Cool on baking sheet 2 minutes.
Place sheets of foil on countertop and carefully transfer cookies to foil so
that they can cool completely.
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium bowl cream together
shortening, sugar and eggs. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda
and salt in a bowl; add to the creamed mixture mixing well. Form into 1-inch
balls, roll in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until
puffed. Cool completely on wire racks.
