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Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Memorial Day 2012
I wanted to do cookies as a way to say Thank You to those who have served our Country in the Armed Forces. I found an Armed Forces Service Medal and used that as the inspiration for this set.
I really had fun making these!
Friday, May 18, 2012
What do you see?
These cookies were being decorated as logos for a car dealership, but the order was cancelled. There are 24 mini white ovals.
2012-05-18_10-51-32_979, a photo by Sugar Beez on Flickr.
Here is your opportunity to get creative! Post your comment with a suggestion for these cookies. The best idea picked by Sugar Beez's staff will win the cookies!2012-05-18_10-51-32_979, a photo by Sugar Beez on Flickr.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Why is cookie dough like a man?
Why is cookie dough like a man? It's gonna make a mess you're gonna have to clean up...because it certainly isn't going to clean up after itself! Baaahhhhaaaa! Oh so true..
It took me a lot of trial and error (and really bad cookies) before I learned how to make cookie dough well. I think this process is worth sharing. Now I'm not saying I'm any kind of expert, there are probably as many ways to make roll out cookie dough as there are recipes on the web. This is just the way I do, but I would love to see/hear from others on how they do theirs. I will post my recipe down at the bottom.
If I forget to take it out of the fridge and I don't have time to wait for it to come to room temperature I soften it in the microwave. Remove it from its wrapper, place it on a microwave safe dish, and heat it for 10 seconds. Then turn it on it's side, (I always rotate it in towards the center of the microwave so I don't keep microwaving the same sides over and over.) and microwave it again for 10 seconds, rotating each time. I usually use 1-pound blocks of butter so if you are using a quarter stick microwave for 5 seconds instead of 10.
I usually beat it a little so that it is ready for the sugar.
Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Here is a trick I learned years ago, and I wish I could remember who to give the credit to, but alas my memory has failed me...sigh. I take a kitchen towel and wrap it over the mixer and bowl like so....
This will keep the sugar (or flour) from "poofing" all over the counter, the coffee maker, the mixer, the baker...
Add the flavor and eggs. And if you forgot to take the eggs out of the fridge too, no worries I have a link below with great instructions on how to bring them to room temperature quickly. These are the remainder of the "wet" ingredients...mix them until they are totally incorporated.
Not like this
But like this
Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl before adding the dry ingredients so that you don't end up with butter at the bottom of the bowl that didn't get integrated into the dough.
Then scrape the dough into a bowl, or some folks flatten it into disks, do what ever works for you, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If I'm going to roll dough right away I let it rest on the counter covered. If I'm not going to roll cookies until the next day I let it rest in the fridge.
I hope you found this post helpful, I sure wish someone would have done something like this when I was first starting out.
It took me a lot of trial and error (and really bad cookies) before I learned how to make cookie dough well. I think this process is worth sharing. Now I'm not saying I'm any kind of expert, there are probably as many ways to make roll out cookie dough as there are recipes on the web. This is just the way I do, but I would love to see/hear from others on how they do theirs. I will post my recipe down at the bottom.
Step 1 - Butter
- 1 pound at room temperature
If I forget to take it out of the fridge and I don't have time to wait for it to come to room temperature I soften it in the microwave. Remove it from its wrapper, place it on a microwave safe dish, and heat it for 10 seconds. Then turn it on it's side, (I always rotate it in towards the center of the microwave so I don't keep microwaving the same sides over and over.) and microwave it again for 10 seconds, rotating each time. I usually use 1-pound blocks of butter so if you are using a quarter stick microwave for 5 seconds instead of 10.
Once the butter is nice and soft, dump it into the mixer bowl.
I usually beat it a little so that it is ready for the sugar.
 |
| This is what light and fluffy should look like. |
Step 2 - Sugar
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Here is a trick I learned years ago, and I wish I could remember who to give the credit to, but alas my memory has failed me...sigh. I take a kitchen towel and wrap it over the mixer and bowl like so....
This will keep the sugar (or flour) from "poofing" all over the counter, the coffee maker, the mixer, the baker...
Step 3 - Flavor / Eggs
- 4 tsp any flavor
- 2 eggs at room temperature.
Add the flavor and eggs. And if you forgot to take the eggs out of the fridge too, no worries I have a link below with great instructions on how to bring them to room temperature quickly. These are the remainder of the "wet" ingredients...mix them until they are totally incorporated.
Not like this
 |
| The mixture should not look like scrambled eggs. |
But like this
Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl before adding the dry ingredients so that you don't end up with butter at the bottom of the bowl that didn't get integrated into the dough.
Step 4 - Dry Ingredients
- 5-1/2 cups flour.
- 2 tsp baking soda.
- 1/2 tsp salt.
Add all the dry ingredients at one time. Don't forget to use your kitchen towel to cover the mixer and bowl so you won't have flour everywhere! Take a peek under the towel to see when it is safe to remove it and check the dough. The finished dough should look like this.
Then scrape the dough into a bowl, or some folks flatten it into disks, do what ever works for you, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. If I'm going to roll dough right away I let it rest on the counter covered. If I'm not going to roll cookies until the next day I let it rest in the fridge.
Step 5 - Baking Instructions
First off, I highly recommend an oven thermometer, because let me tell you from experience, that oven dial LIES! It says it's at 350, but it never really is, sometimes it's closer to 375...so invest in one of the inexpensive oven thermometers that hangs off the rack...one of the best baking investments I have bought!
I bake my cookies at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Meaning I set the timer for 12 minutes and check on them every minute after that point until they are lightly golden.
I hope you found this post helpful, I sure wish someone would have done something like this when I was first starting out.
Recipe
1 pound butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp flavor
5-1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
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Thursday, March 29, 2012
Baby Buggy Cookie
I had a request for baby carriage cookies. I have done some in the past, you can see them on my website. I wanted to do something different and I came across a baby carriage on a site and I used it as my inspiration for this cookie.
I added the ruffles with a 101 tip (boy, my hand hurts from squeezing that extra stiff icing). I learned to put less in the piping bag so I didn't have to squeeze so hard.
Also, a trick I used starting with these cookies that I learned from Lisa The Bearfoot Baker is o use a fondant smoother (click here) to smooth the cookies flat when they came out of the oven. This gave them a very flat surface to lay my base icing down and really helped to add a professional look to the finished cookie.
Thanks for letting me share!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Spring Bouquet
I have set some goals for the business...1. I will make $1000 in sale in April, then today I got an order for $770...wow...big jump on the $1000 goal!
2. I will post photos at least 3 times a week of cookies. So, here is the one I did today.
Spring flowers are popping up in my yard...love the burst of color and the wonderful scent of flowers in the air.
I used a seashell cookie cutter as the base for this cookie. My goal also is to grow my creative side by trying to see multiple uses for each cookie cutter. I like the way Alton Brown thinks about kitchen tools/gadgets, they should all be multi-taskers...well my cookie cutters should be too, right?
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
My Weakness
My weakness, I'll admit it, is being a thinker...yep, I think too much. In other words, I tend to spend way too much time analyzing. One manager I worked for called this "paralysis by analysis." Yep...that's me. I have been trying to come up with a topic to blog about, so what did I do? I would come up with an idea, then analyze it's worthiness or interest appeal...then I would chuck the idea. I'm sure I probably had some really good ideas, but just overthought them.
This imperfection in my persona causes me much grief.
This imperfection in my persona causes me much grief.
- I have times when someone will ask me to do a custom cookie design and I think about the best way to do the design, but have trouble shifting from the thought process to the "doing" processes.
- I want to lose weight, and have a great treadmill in the basement, and I will think about going down and getting on to run a mile, but then I begin to think about what I have to get done to complete the goal...shower,
UPDATE: I started writing this blog post 2 days ago...guess what I did...thought maybe it wasn't interesting enough, so I walked away from it.
I went back and read it this morning, and laughed...because last night while at Target, I split the seat of my jeans open...okay, so they were old jean, but I have been gaining weight and I knew I needed to do something about it...that was the last "thread."
I went back on Weight Watchers this morning and walked a mile on the treadmill. Whose with me on losing some weight? Feel free to join in the misery!
I will be brave and put it all out there for ya...I'm 5'4", weight this morning was 181.4 pounds...squeezing in to my size 12 jeans...so my goal is to drop 2 pant sizes and stay there!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Snowy day!
We have been talking (okay, somewhat complaining) about the very mild winter here in Illinois.
Today I need to go hit Sam's Club to stock up on flour, sugar, butter, all the cookie necessities, and this is what it looks like outside.
Going to Sam's with my 2-year-old grandson in tow is going to be an adventure! I need a shower already just from shoveling my driveway to get to my car!
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