Weekend Cooking: Sweet: Our Best Cupcakes, Cookies, Candy, and More

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish.

SWEET: OUR BEST CUPCAKES, COOKIES, CANDY, AND MORE is a new dessert cookbook from The Food Network. It is aimed at the beginner baker, although some recipes require more skill.  (See the Fake Out Cakes, which you make to look like other things.)  Some specialized tools like candy thermometers are needed for many recipes.  For the most part, however, the tools and ingredients needed are simpleeci and common.

It is also a super pretty cookbook.  Almost all of the recipes have a full-page photo of what it should look like.  This means that there aren't a ton of recipes actually in the book, but they are done in large print, which is handy when you're trying to read and bake and the same time.

I particularly liked the little sections giving ideas on how to modify and jazz up recipes (such as brownies and whoopie pies).  It's nice to have a little guidance on how to make the recipes your own.

The first recipe I tried was the Salted Caramel Thumbprints.  These are basically a sugar cookie with some pretzels and dulce de leche for flair.

Yeah, I ate a few.

The resulting cookies were quite delicious.  I found the base cookie a bit floury, but that is easy to adjust.  I did cut the amount of pretzels the recipe called for, and I'm glad I made that decision - 1 c total was more than enough.  I also added a touch less salt to the dough than called for out of respect to my family members with high blood pressure.  The salt in the pretzels was plenty.  I also didn't use a mixer, as the recipe calls for, because I don't own one.  My arm strength did just fine.

I'm also impressed that the recipe made 24 cookies, just as it said it would.  I find that recipes often overestimate how many cookies will be produced.

I'm excited to try some other recipes from this very pretty cookbook!

Weekend Cooking: Pamela's Products Sugar Cookie Mix

I have meant to participate in Beth Fish's Weekend Cooking for years.  Finally I am remembering on the weekend and writing something.

I love baking and sharing the results with others.  A couple of people in my office are gluten-free, so I wanted to bake something they could enjoy too.  When Pamela's Products Sugar Cookie Mix popped up in the Amazon Vine Last Harvest, I thought it was perfect.  Here I could try gluten-free with training wheels!

First, I gathered my ingredients.  I decided to add gluten-free chocolate chips, one of the suggestions on the back of the back, as well as some sanding sugar.  I also added a small smash of vanilla because I am very fond of vanilla.

I started using a whisk, because the recipe said to use a stand mixer.  But I quickly switched to a wooden spoon because I found it easier to use.  The mixture was obviously too dry, so I added another egg.  Below is a picture of the dough with two eggs.

I then rolled the dough into a log and chilled it.  The bag suggested chilling for 30 minutes to an hour.  I chilled the dough for 45 minutes.  I might've waited longer, but I wanted cookies!

I lined my cookie sheets with parchment paper.  I cut the log into 1/4 inch slices, which resulted in fifteen cookies.  Finally, I baked the cookies for the minimum time listed on the package, because I like my cookies a bit soft.  They came out of the oven looking rather nice.

Unfortunately, they were terrible cookies.  The taste was fine, but the texture was all wrong.  Dry like the Sahara.  My dad agreed that the texture was terrible.  I took some to work and shared them with my boss, who also bakes.  (I didn't inflict them on the rest of the office.)  She thought they were fine, but I'm sure she was just being polite. 

No stars for this mix from me.  I may try gluten-free again, but Pamela's Products Sugar Cookie Mix was most definitely not a success.