Day Two: Soft Sugar Cookies

Day Two:

So glad that I found this recipe.  My husband LOVES these and can eat them all in one day.  He really likes them without frosting so I haven't tried them with frosting yet.  I use a cookie scoop to put them on the cookie sheets so that they come out in a nice round shape and come out perfect.  They're not like any other sugar cookie I've had.  You'll love them too.

Soft Sugar Cookies

Makes 36 

Prep Time: 30 mins         Cook Time: 10 mins per batch + cooling time

Ingredients


1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

FROSTING:

1/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 to 4 tablespoons hot water
Food coloring, optional

Directions

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and almond extract. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

For frosting, in a large bowl, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar, almond extract and enough water to achieve desired consistency. Tint with food coloring if desired. Frost cookies. Yield: about 6 dozen.

 
 
 
Recipe from Tasteofhome.com, I have a best loved cookies and candies 2010 book with this recipe in.  How I first found it.

Pastry of the day: Banana Bread

Day One:

The first pastry that I baked was a Banana Bread.  Banana Bread is a favorite of my family.  My son loves it and eats it like candy.  This is my go to bread, easy and bananas are cheap most of the time. This is a heavy bread so eating to much at a time won't happen.  My mother loves this recipe but makes it with no salt and less sugar.  She also adds other fruits into in.  No matter what she does, it comes out great.  I would keep this recipe as a go to recipe.

Banana Bread Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes                    Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.


Yield: Makes one loaf.






Recipe From SimpleRecipes.com

Baking Challenge

I have spent the last couple weeks reading through websites and blog about baking that my brain is about to explode.  There is so much out there and so much that is need to bake that you kind of get overwhelmed.  I think that just jumping in and starting on one topic is best. 

One of the best sites that I found was Pastry Chef Online.  She has sections for basic and advanced pastries, which make deciding on what to start with easy. 



After reading through the site and thinking about what would be easiest to start with I have decided that I will do a little of everything.  There is a lot out there so I'll find what I like fisrt then move onto things that require me to learn something.  Basic cakes, cookies and quick breads are things that I know how to do so those are the first to show up.

Wish me luck  :)