When a craving calls...

Tuesday night I was bored. The pouring rain had me in a sour mood, as usual. And out of nowhere, I developed this craving for those packaged store bought butter cookies with the hard jelly in the middle that stuck to your mouth. The name escapes my mind at the moment but those cookies define my childhood growing up. I wanted those cookies. I wanted those cookies. I wanted those cookies!!! So I took my boyfriends advice and tried to bake a batch of cookies that I hoped would be the duplicate of those cookies.

I ended up making the Jam Filled Butter Cookie recipe from allrecipes

Ingredients  (Makes about 18-20 medium sized cookies)
3/4 cup butter (at room temperature)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fruit preserves (I used strawberry jam)
Additions:
1/3 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
 
To make the cookies, cream together the butter, white sugar, salt, vanilla and egg. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use your finger or an instrument of similar size to make a well in the center of each cookie. Fill the hole with 1/2 teaspoon of preserves. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.

I made each cookie into about a 1 inch ball, placed them all on a baking sheet and which the palm of my hand I flattened them and with my thumb I made the little indent to place the jam. For the jam, I took a zip lock bag and placed the jam inside and cut a small little snippet off one of the corners to make a pastry bag. This helps to place the jam in the cookie easier than using a spoon to place the jam. When baking, the cookie does stay a very pale color as you will say in the pictures below but the bottom does start to brown. Be careful not to overcook. 

I received mixed reviews for this cookie. My mom and my brother, who like more of a subtle cookie that isn't too sugary or too sweet really enjoyed this cookie. It has a small hint of sugar but wasn't overpowering and they really liked that. When I make them again, I will probably make two batches. One will be the way I made them this time and the second batch will probably have a drizzle of glaze on the top to add a bit more sweetness for my personal taste. These cookies came no where close to the  store bought cookies I wanted, but they're still good cookies and they cured my craving. 

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach...

Men love food.

I have never met a guy who ever turned down food.

With that said, it's not about manipulating them with food to try and get our way or make them fall in love with us. I think it's generally a nice gesture to cook delicious meals for those great men in our lives. For me, I like to cook for my amazing boyfriend, Zack. Sometimes I like to take a jab at trying to make food from his culture (which I am a very unfamiliar with) because I think it makes him happy. It may not be as good as his mom's cooking, but I'm trying!

About a month ago, I was browsing through the oh-so-famous Joy Of Cooking cookbook and came upon Rugelach. I pretty much have this recipe down for my own variation without having to seek out a recipe. Here is how I make mine.

 Rugelach  Yield: About 24 pastries
 2 cups flour
 1 (8oz) package of cream cheese
2 sticks of butter
1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup of walnuts (chopped)
1 jar of fruit jam (I use strawberry or raspberry)

 Mix the flour, cream cheese, and butter. Form into two discs, wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours. Roll out discs and divide the disc into equal triangle wedges (about 12 per disc). Roll out each triangle wedge to desired thickness. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Spread a bit of jam on each triangle, followed by the sugar and cinnamon mixture and lastly add a few walnuts. Roll from thickest width of the triangle to the tip of the triangle. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush with egg wash. If desired, you may all sprinkle the pastries with a bit more sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or so until it begins to turn a light golden pastry.

Before baking:

Finished Product:

Until next time, happy cooking!

My First Blog!

My first post! Wow! I don't know where to start!!?!?!?! Ok, ok. My name is Michelle. I am not a cook, I am a college student studying biology. I have no culinary training whatsoever. I cook, good or bad, because I love it! This blog will be a place where I share my cooking triumphs and (hopefully very few) failures. And with that...let's begin!

This past semester I have come to fall in love with a blueberry crumb muffin the local deli near my college sold. The budding little chef in me needed to try and duplicate them but  time after time my muffins came out as a disappointment. They were either too dry or didn't have the right taste or the blueberries didn't cook enough. Today, however, I think I have found the answer to my little blueberry prayers!

Behold these precious, delicious, blueberry gems.

They are moist. They are fluffy. The blueberries bled a tiny bit which is what I was hoping for. I got this recipe from EvilShenanigans.com and of course tweaked it a bit to my taste. If you find yourself craving a scrumptious blueberry muffin, don't hesitate to make this one. Definitely a keeper!