SUNDAYS IN: The Cripple Bakes Cookies

Last week wasn't my best. I don't really know how to explain it, but I missed a step, and broke my ankle. Yes, actually BROKE a bone. Sure, I'm known to break a few dishes here and there, stumble upon the sidewalk with my 5inch heels, and even land on my face in the snow. But I have never actually broken a bone in my life. What annoys me the most is it did not happen when I was doing a hard core exercise move, it happened when I was going up a stair. It did not happen in my sky high heels, it happened in my sneakers. And while it may seem like a broken ankle doesn't limit you that much, it means you can't stand up, and you constantly have to be sitting down with your leg propped up. And since you are on crutches, it means you don't have your hands free either. Yes, you can't even get yourself a glass of water. All I did last week was just lay on the couch pitying myself while watching cooking shows. This week, I decided to get up a little bit to do stuff, but it only left me more frustrated and angry.You have to understand, I'm not a lazy person. I'm a person that exercises every night after work, then comes home to cook dinner. So this not being able to move around thing is not sitting well with me.

I hit the lowest point when I was flipping through an issue of Bon Appetit and just saw holiday cookies page after page. It's holiday season, and I'm not even able to bake holiday cookies. I feel like the cookie season is passing by, and I'm just missing it. Normally I prepare gift bags for everyone with homemade treats, and I found myself just staring at the cute gift bags I bought for the season. So after a lot of whining, and puffing, I finally figured a way to bake cookies...I asked for help. My dining table turned into a kitchen counter with my electric mixer and all the ingredients, with a chair pulled out to prop up my feet. I went to work, and little elves helped to transfer baking sheets to the oven when I was done. I packaged them in little bags lying on the couch, and even set up a display by the window next to the couch to take pictures. Overall, everything turned out great, but it was a lot of work. So I'm going to go back to the couch now, while you take over and bake some cookies.

Mint-Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps, Adapted from Martha Stewart

I love Martha Stewart's Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps recipe, and since I'm a huge fan of mint with chocolate, I decided to add mint to the recipe. They were amazing, and even got compliments from people who don't like mint.

CLICK FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE HERE

Makes 18 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 teaspoons instant espresso
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon mint extract
4 ounces dark chocolate and mint morsels plus 18 mint morsels for decoration (I used Nestle, if you can't find it use 2 ounces dark chocolate chips and 2 ounces mint chips)
1 tablespoon milk
Confectioners' sugar, for coating

Instructions:

Place the dark chocolate and mint morsels in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove, stir until completely melted. If there are still solid pieces, microwave in 15 second intervals until combined.

In a medium bowl, sift the cocoa powder. Add the flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt (sift these as well if you want, but I don't think it's necessary). With an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well combined. Add the vanilla and mint extracts, and the cooled chocolate. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Freeze until firm, at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Pull apart pieces from the dough, and shape each one into a ball (about 1 inch diameter). Pour confectioners' sugar (about 1/2 cup) into a medium bowl. Roll balls in the sugar few at a time letting them sit in the sugar between coatings. Repeat the process twice.

Place the balls on prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, 12 to 14 minutes. Cookies will look undone when you remove them from the oven. After you take them out of the oven, wait for 30 seconds, and then press a mint morsel at the center. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Spiced Palmiers, Adapted from Bon Appetit

The first time I made this recipe, I burned the cookies because the suggested baking time listed on Bon Appetit is really long. Make sure you constantly check these cookies because the sugar burns really easily.

CLICK FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE HERE

Ingredients

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon-sugar (or you can make your own with 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1/4 cup granulated sugar)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 14-ounce package frozen puff pastry (such as Dufour), thawed in the refrigerator
All-purpose flour (for dusting)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix sugar and spices in a small bowl. Unfold pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Brush lightly with butter using a pastry brush. Sprinkle half of the spiced sugar mixture evenly over the pastry. Cut in half lengthwise.

Fold both long sides of 1 pastry strip so that outer edges meet in the center of strip and none of the sugar mixture is visible. Brush with more butter; sprinkle with more of the spiced sugar. Fold in half lengthwise again, so that the outer edges meet. Fold one side over the other, forming a 14 inch-long log about 1 inch wide. Repeat with the other pastry strip.

Place logs on prepared baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.You can do this the night before, up to 2 weeks in advance.

Preheat oven to 425°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Take one of the logs out, and cut each into 1/4 inch slices. Lay flat on the prepared baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Make sure the palmiers are intact, and the two sides are touching. Press down gently if they are not, otherwise they won't hold their shape well while baking. Repeat with the other log.

Bake palmiers until golden on bottom, about 6-8 minutes. Using a thin metal spatula, turn palmiers over. Brush lightly with butter; sprinkle with more spiced sugar. Bake until sugar is bubbly and pastry is golden brown, about 3-5 minutes longer. Transfer palmiers to a wire rack; let cool. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar right before serving.

Chewy Chocolate-Gingerbread Cookies- click for recipe

This is the ultimate holiday cookie in my opinion. You bake them, and the whole place smells like a gingerbread house! You take a bite, and the chocolate and spices melt in your mouth. They are crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside and just perfect perfect perfect!

Walnut Crescent Cookies- Recipe from Cooks Illustrated Magazine

These cookies just crumble in your mouth, and go perfect with coffee or hot chocolate. They are really dense from the walnuts, despite the generous coating of confectioner's sugar, not too sugary.