two great tastes that taste great together

my friend tater sent me a link to a recipe for some delicious looking cookies a few weeks ago that blended two of my favorite things in the whole world - biscoff spread and snickerdoodles.  and since i love to plan ahead, i told her that i'd make a batch of them in her honor to serve at the GTG we were planning.

of course, i was totally distracted the day before the party and forgot all about them until i woke up before the butt crack of dawn.  oops.  but i'd read through the recipe and knew that it was a pretty easy process, so i decided to make them as soon as i got out of bed.  the bean, hearing my plans, immediately volunteered to come with me.  she's such a good little helper.

the cookie part was a really basic snickerdoodle recipe.  simple sugar cookie dough, formed into balls and rolled in some cinnamon sugar.

but then i busted out the secret ingredient and the magic began.

turns out i had just enough for the filling.  wanna see one of the saddest sights in the whole wide world?

blend it with a little butter, some powdered sugar, a bit of cinnamon, and a smidge of milk, and you've got yourself one heavenly smelling bowl of yum.

slather it on the cooled cookies.

sandwich them together.

and bask in the glory of all the compliments showered upon you by all who partake.

making cookies out of...cookies

my friend weezermonkey has introduced me to all sorts of great stuff - julius the monkey, pork belly (and other scrumptious piggy parts), countless joints for delicious grub in the city, even the bean's very first playdate.  and i'm totally crediting her with my latest obsession - a super delicious spread made from yummy biscoff cookies.

you'll recognize these if you've ever flown on delta.  those crunchy, slightly spicy, uber tasty cookies they give you that come two to a little plastic pack?  yeah, that be them.  and out of these nuggets of happiness they've created a spread that tastes exactly like them - mostly because it's about 60% ground cookies.

anyway, from what i remember, the monkey posted on twitter that she and mr. mo had received a gift basket that contained a jar of this fantastic stuff.  the moment i read "biscoff," my mouth started watering like crazy.  i've actually found these cookies at target and local grocery stores, but a quick search turned up zero access to biscoff spread.  bummer.  i considered ordering it from the website, but i got distracted - probably by something shiny - and forgot all about it.

then a few weeks ago, twitter was again my source of valuable information as someone posted a link to a recipe for cupcakes using the spread, and mentioned finding it at cost plus world market.  well, hell, there's one of those practically around the corner from the house of wan!  and so the very next day, when i dropped the bean off at school, i zoomed right over and started perusing the shelves of random international foodstuffs.  i was ridiculously excited to find the jars tucked in next to nutella and specialty peanut butters, and raced home to taste a spoonful right away.

or two.  maybe twelve.  in any case, this has become my go-to spread for bagels, toast, hawaiian rolls, waffles - you name it, i'm spreadin' it.  that sounded dirrrrty.

on friday, one of my favorite cookie bloggers tweeted a link to her newest creation - soft cutout cookies using the precious biscoff spread.  now, i realize that on the surface, this sounds kind of wacky.  they're cookies, incorporating a spread made with...cookies.  i know.  i thought the same thing at first.  but then i got to thinking that a soft, chewy cookie with that distinctive flavor would be pretty stinking awesome.  the only thing that gave me pause - briefly - was the idea of using up damn near a whole jar.

obviously, i didn't let that stop me.

i rolled and cut out the dough into cute little scalloped round cookies, popped the sheets in the oven, and 9 minutes later:

although the recipe told me to let them cool completely, this was one time i was gonna be a rebel.  i grabbed a knife, picked up a still-warm cookie, and slathered it with some spread.

oh. em. gee.  these are seriously so delicious.  and i only baked up half the batch!  i've still got a whole disk of dough kickin' it in the fridge, ready for the moment these disappear completely (which won't be long, from the looks of it).  and to save time later, i decided to go ahead and sandwich them all together.  aren't they cute?

by the time i was done, this was all i had left of that jar.

but no worries.  i've already gone and out and replenished my supply.  heh.

and as i updated my facebook status with the joy of these cookies, one of my friends replied with "speculoos?" a-wha?  the google clued me in, though, and i learned quite a bit about those treats we know here in the U.S. as biscoff cookies.  they've apparently been around a loooong time, and the spread was a result of an inventions contest in belgium.  and there are/were several companies fighting over the right to patent the stuff.  the cookies are also a christmastime treat in the netherlands, and they also put them between slices of buttered bread, letting them soften into a paste much like the spread i'm currently hoarding like crazy.

yes, i totally researched these cookies quite thoroughly.  oh, and i found something else i desperately want to try - something called ovomaltine crunchy cream spread.   have you ever had ovaltine?  it's a malted chocolate powder that you mix in with milk.  i used to drink it all the time when i was younger, as it's apparently a big thing in the homeland.  relatives coming for visits used to bring me packets of ovalteenies too - hard little round crunchy candy things that were super delicious.  i should see if i can get my hands on some of those.  they've got vitamins and stuff in 'em, you know.

anyway, this spread sounds like chocolatey, crunchy, malted heaven.  i. want. it.  except that the few places online that'll ship to the U.S. are all abroad, meaning exorbitant shipping rates.

anybody wanna hook me up?  anyone?  bueller?

cutest cookies EVER

wow, easter really snuck up on me this year.  maybe it was because the teen had spring break so stinking early, but i was so thrown off schedule that i never even got around to buying easter-shaped cookie cutters.

and so the day before the bean's easter party at school, i found myself wandering the aisles of michael's and joann's looking for something suitable.  i'd signed up to bring cookies and juice boxes, which i figured would be fun practice for me.  i really wanted an egg-shaped cutter, but ended up settling for a bunny instead.  my goal was to make cute little chick cookies like the ones i found on another blog, but i decided that i could still get the same result even if i used a circle instead.

mixing up the dough and rolling it out is pretty much second nature by now.  and i was pretty stoked to finally use up the last of this giant bottle of vanilla extract.  i've had it for ages (i'm talking YEARS here. thank goodness it's alcohol-based and never expires) and have packed and unpacked it during about half a dozen different moves.  heh.

and i managed to score these bakery emulsions at ross, of all places - for a fraction of the cost i've seen them online for.  these are super duper concentrated flavors, even more so than regular extracts you find at the grocery store.

i was kind of bitter when i started moving the baked bunny cookies from the silpat to my cooling rack, because i didn't wait long enough (such an impatient mofo, i am) and ended up snapping off an ear.

although it ended up okay, because i used it for test purposes - trying out the face and outlining the ear to see if i liked how it looked.

aren't they cute?

my little chicks turned out really well, too.

since the bunnies were rather big - like almost 6" tall! - i decided to wrap them up and give them to the kids in the bean's class as a take-home.  maybe they could share it with a sibling or their parents or something.

i'll have to remember to hit up the craft stores for cutters waaaaay in advance from now on.  lesson learned.

it's love day!

happy, happy valentine's day! though most pooh-pooh today as a total hallmark holiday, i love it.  but knowing that i am all about cheese + sap, i'm sure this is no surprise whatsoever.

so, from me to you:

oh, and how about a few of these:

but if you're more of the anti-valentine's day type, these'll be more your speed:

hope you have a fabulous hallmark holiday!

is it ever NOT about food?

yesterday was a lovely, rainy, lazy day. although i did manage to shower and get dressed and stuff fairly early, and then the bean helped me vacuum and mop the floors. that was pretty much the extent of our productivity yesterday. never even set foot outta the house. heh.

well, wait. i did actually test out a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. and it was a good one!

all these years that i've been baking, i've always had to plan ahead - setting the butter out to soften for hours before i could get started. little did i know that there were recipes out there that used melted butter instead! yeah, yeah, this sounds lame as hell, but i was excited. and since we were all out of cookies (quelle horreur!), i got to work.

it was so weird to work with gooey, liquidy butter vs. soft, creamy butter.

but it mixed up rather nicely. and i found that i was all out of semisweet chips, but had a box of baking chocolate bars. so i just busted out my knife and chopped it up.

a lot of the melted butter recipes i perused recommended chilling the dough for at least 10 minutes after mixing. some even suggested chilling for 12 or more hours! but i'm impatient. so 15 minutes later, i pulled the bowl out of the fridge and started scoopin'.

my oven is a piece of crap. i think i've mentioned it before. but i experimented and played with it and kept an eye on the thermometer i bought to hang from one of the racks, and finally figured it out: if i set it for about 75 degrees higher than the required temperature, it works perfectly. yay! and so after 11 minutes, i pulled out the first tray of cookies.

strangely, they smelled slightly of nutella. there's no nuts in these (i don't like them in cookies or brownies, with the exception of macadamia nuts), and my jar of nutella was unopened in the pantry. and when i took a bite of my test cookie, it even tasted a little nutella-ish. not a bad thing, obviously, since i adore the stuff, but still...weird. oh, well. the hub didn't seem to notice or mind as he chowed down on those cookies after dinner.

speaking of dinner, the leftovers went over pretty well. i had some steak from the weekend stashed in the fridge, and i'd only saved the chunks that were done pretty rare. i popped 'em in the oven, sauteed some portabella mushrooms, chopped up some cooked bacon (of course) and a tomato, tossed it all with a bag of romaine and a tablespoonful each of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, added a bit of salt and pepper, and sliced the steak on top of the plated salads. i served it with some rolls, and it was pretty darn good.

the hub had to skedaddle earlier than usual this morning, so the bean and i were up early too. i decided to make breakfast for both of us, and as i scrambled an egg for her, i mixed up some batter for german pancakes.

i love IHOP. more specifically, i love IHOP's german pancakes - thin, delicate, eggy pancakes folded in fourths, served with an ridiculously large dollop of whipped butter and lemon slices. i usually slather the hot cakes with some of that butter, set aside the other 3/4 of it, and squeeze some lemon juice on top. so yummy!

so the other day, i decided to google for recipes in an effort to clone my favorite pancakes. and after looking about a million and two different sites, i finally found one. for some reason, i couldn't bookmark it, so i just copied and pasted the recipe.

my little nonstick omelet pan was perfect for making them:

as i poured, flipped, and folded, i cut up the first pancake and gave it to the bean. she liked it so much, she took the rest of the pancake right off of the plate. but then she got a little confused.

took a bite...

and realized it was just as good as the cut-up pieces on her tray. whee!

here's mine:

are you, like, SO totally over my cooking adventures yet? i hope not, because it's fun as hell. oh, and if you want to make your own german pancakes, here's the recipe. my apologies to the original author - i wiped out my browser history yesterday, so i can't even get back to the page i c&p'd it from. but hey, thanks.

4 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter
4 tablespoons sugar
1 cup milk

mix eggs, sugar, butter, & milk; add flour. cook on greased griddle. make the pancakes small. they will be thin & delicate. can also add a drop or 2 of vanilla for extra flavor (confession: i never measure vanilla extract in anything i make. i just pour till it looks good). fold in fourths, smear top with butter and serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and lemon slices.

dee-licious.