Heavenly Paradise@AdelineAng.com

Christmas baking was started three weeks ago. Sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, and pinwheel cookies are the three main cookies on my list. Baking these cookies was a multi-step project; preparing dough, refrigerating dough, rolling out dough, cutting into various shapes, baking, cooling, preparing icing, decorating, air-drying, storing etc. Before Christmas, most of these cookies had been given away to family and friends. Of course, there’s always some for home consumption ;)

Recipes of cookies to be followed…

Do you like soft cookies, or crunchy ones? Personally, I like the texture that lies in between; not too soft and not too hard. The baking time, hence, plays a major role in determining the texture of cookies. I usually bring cookies out of the oven when they start turning brown on the side. The cooling process allows them to harden some. Therefore, cookies will taste crunchy but soft for chewing ;)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 + 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp honey
1 + 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cup rolled oats
1 cup raisins

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the eggs, vanilla extract, and honey.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, baking soda, and ground cinnamon. Next, gradually stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture from step (1). Stir until well incorporated.
3. Lastly, stir in the rolled oats and raisins, just enough to mix.
4. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto a lined cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 10 to 15 minutes, or until cookies start to brown. Remove from baking sheet and cook on wire racks.

* Adapted from Allrecipes.com

I came across with this Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe last week and decided to give it a try. This is definitely a keeper! 

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
1/2 tsp salt
2 + 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract.
2. Next, dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to the batter along with salt. Stir in flour.
3. Lastly, stir in chocolate chips. On a ungreased cookie sheet, drop cookie dough by large spoonfuls, about an inch apart.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly brown. For crunchier cookie texture, extend baking time for another one to two minutes.

* Yield: ~ 4 dozens

Christmas is just around the corner! For a Christmas potluck/Yankee swap at work, Miles and I made some gingerbread cookies with royal icing. Yummm…

It was my first time making gingerbread cookies and they turned out wonderful. Nonetheless, I’ll probably put an extra teaspoon or two of ground ginger next time around, for more “gingery” taste cookies :)

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:
6 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup shortening, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup molasses
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix together shortening, molasses, brown sugar, water, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth. Next, gradually stir in the dry ingredients from (1), until they are well incorporated.
3. Divide dough into 3 pieces. Pat down to 1+1/2 inch thickness each, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto a cookie sheet.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies will look dry when done, but still be soft to the touch. Cool cookies on wire racks.
6. Decorate cookies when cookies are cooled completely.

* Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Royal Icing

Ingredients:
3 cup icing sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 egg white, beaten

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, sift together icing sugar and cream of tartar. Using an electric hand mixer, beat in 2 beaten egg whites for approximately 5 minutes, or until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape.
2. Add food colouring into icing accordingly. Mix well. Insert icing into an icing bag and decorate cookies accordingly.

* Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1+1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth, with an electric hand mixer on medium speed. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Next, stir in the flour mixture from (2) into (1). Mix ingredients with hand mixer at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour, or overnight.
4. Roll out dough on a floured surface, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into various shapes with cookie cutters.
5. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake cookies for 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven at 400 F (200 degrees C). Remove cookies from the oven when cookie edges turn light brown. Cool completely.

* Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Just as the name suggested, Melting Moments can easily melt in your mouth! Sharing a similar texture and taste as shortbread cookies, these bite-size Melting Moments are delicious treats! They resemble the Mexican Wedding Cakes, except that the latter contain nuts.

I was excited to try out the cookie recipe that I found here. Some even said that they look identical to snowballs, a festive treat during Christmas.

The soft texture, buttery flavour, a hint of savoury taste, sweet icing topping, and the melt-in-your-mouth nature of these Melting Moments…are simply fabulous!

Ingredients:
(A)
1 + 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

(B)
1/2 cup icing sugar

Directions:
1. With an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and icing sugar from (A) on medium speed, for 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract.
2. In another mixing bowl, mix together all-purpose flour, corn starch, and salt.
3. Add the flour mixture into butter mixture gradually. Beat until well incorporated.
4. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour or until firm. Alternatively, freeze the dough for about 30 minutes.
5. Form the firm dough into small balls and lined them about an inch apart, on a lined baking sheet.
6. Bake at preheated oven at 350 F for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges of cookies turn light brown.
7. Cool cookies for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle sifted icing sugar from (B) on the top of cookies.
8. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container up to a few weeks.

* Yield: ~ 5 dozen cookies

Looking for something easy to bake? This super easy recipe is highly recommended to beginners and those who want quick baking. Three baking  ingredients and 15 minutes baking time. You can’t beat that! This is one of those no-fail recipes! It’s worth a try ;)

Ingredients:
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:
1. Mix together egg and sugar. Add peanut butter into egg mixture. Mix well.
2. Roll cookie dough into 1-inch balls.
3. Place them 2 inches apart on a lined baking sheet. Flatten with a fork.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 325 F for 15 minutes.
5. Remove from oven. Let stand on baking sheet for 10 minutes.
6. Let cool before serving.

Yield: ~ 20 cookies

One of the many baked goods that I enjoy during Chinese New Year–cornflake cookies! These are crunchy cookies with cornflakes and raisins as main ingredients. They are easy to make. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 + 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup raisins
2 cup cornflakes, crushed

Directions:
1. Cream margarine, white sugar, and egg together, with a electrical hand mixer on low speed.
2. Mix vanilla extract into the margarine mixture.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, mix together all-purpose flour and baking powder.
4. Slowly pour flour mixture into the margarine mixture, while stirring. Mix well.
5. Add raisins and cornflakes into cookie dough.
6. Form small-size balls of ~ 1.5 tbsp dough each.
7. Place them on lined cookie sheet, slightly apart from each other. Bake cookies in preheated oven of 350 F for about 18 minutes, or until light brown.

Yield: ~ 30 cookies

Baked goods make delicious snacks during Chinese New Year celebration. Peanut cookies are one of them. These melt-in-your-mouth cookies are aromatic and have a soft texture. You’ll certainly ask for more!

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year!

Ingredients:
2 + 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
200g roasted peanuts, finely ground
175g roasted peanuts, coarsely ground
30 roasted whole peanuts, halved
3/4 cup vegetable oil or peanut oil
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tsp water

Directions:
1. Prepare the ground roasted peanuts from store-bought roasted peanuts (without skins), with a kitchen blender.
2. Mix together icing sugar, finely ground roasted peanuts, and salt (if using unsalted peanuts).
3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour and baking powder. Mix well.
4. Pour in the flour mixture gradually into the peanut mixture in (2). Mix well.
5. Next, incorporate the coarsely ground roasted peanuts into the mixture.
6. Add vegetable oil (or peanut oil) into the mixture to form cookie dough. Mix well.
7. Roll the dough into small balls. Place a halved peanut on top of each of them, by applying light pressure.
8. Mix the lightly beaten egg yolk and water together. Using a pastry brush, apply egg wash on cookies.
9. Bake cookies at 325 F for 15 minutes. Apply egg wash once again on cookies and bake them for another 5 minutes, or until golden brown.

* This recipe yields about 60 cookies.

Suggestion: Add additional (~ 1/4 cup) oil to prevent cracks on the cookie surface.

Inspired by the butter cookies recipe that a blogger shared on her site, I was very tempted to try it out! The recipe called for pandan paste, something that I couldn’t find in this city… A rare ingredient, I’d say. I was fortunate to get hold of a bottle in Montreal a while ago to make serimuka, a Malaysian dessert.

Anyway, this is my first time incorporating pandan paste into baking; and it turns out great! Cookies are aromatic and have a green tint from the pandan paste. Something different from the regular vanilla extract used in cookie recipes for sure :)

Ingredients:
2 cup all-purpose flour
75g white sugar
100g salted butter, soften
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp pandan paste
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp vegetable oil

* Add 1/4 tsp salt if unsalted butter is used.

Directions:
1. Mix the soften butter and sugar together.
2. Combine beaten egg with the butter mixture in (1).
3. Add pandan paste into the mixture.
4. Mix together all-purpose flour and baking soda. Then, pour in the flour mixture gradually into the butter mixture in (3). Mix well.
5. Add the vegetable oil as needed, to prevent cookie dough from crumbling.
6. Keep the dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
7. Subsequently, roll out the cookie dough about 1/4 inch thick, with a rolling pin, on a lightly greased surface.
8. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.
9. Bake in the preheated oven at 400F for about 10 minutes.

Peanut butter cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies are rather common. You can easily get them from the bakeries. If you love them both, have you ever wonder what would the cookie taste like, when you put them together and generate the ultimate peanut butter oatmeal cookies?

Here I am to try it out! I’ve made some changes with the original recipe. Presenting to you the peanut butter oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies!! What a mouthful :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, margarine, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats, raisins, and chocolate chips until just combined.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten the dough lightly with a spoon.
4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just light brown. Don’t over-bake.
5. Yield ~ 36 cookies. Cool and store in an airtight container.

These cookies are very flavourful. If you’re the kind of person who likes a bit of everything and always wanted to try something new. This is the recipe for you! Happy trying :)