Day 29: Fortune Cookies

We were invited over for dinner by good friends of ours that happen to be moving to China this year. I have been getting quite confident in my cookie making abilities and decided to attempt to make Fortune Cookies. The boys and I printed and cut out fortunes and I found a seeming do-able recipe in Martha Stewart's Cookie book (that a freind recently gave me).

I mixed the batter and followed the directions, however shaping the foutune cookies was a lot harder then I expected. The cookies were very hot to touch and if I waited too long the cookies would be impossible to shape. I was so frusterated!! I mananged to shape some sad looking fortune cookies, then decided to try a different approach.

My mother had sent me a picture that showed a way to make cookie cups. Using the bottom side of a muffin tin bake the cookies on top. When you are done you have cookie cups. Brilliant!!

After failing to produce fortune cookies, I decided to try this technique.



Once the cookie cups baked I ended up with a disaster. I must have not used enough non stick spray, and the cookies would not "pop" off like the above picture showed.

So I had not only failed once but TWICE the same day.

I did manange to spare a few cookies. I crushed them up and put them in a little bowl. 

I may try to redeem myself in the future. For now, I'm going to leave the fortune cookie making to the professionals like Martha.

For those who would like a challenge (or are just crazy) here is the recipe I used.

 

Fortune Cookies

(from Martha Stewart's Cookies)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter                                       

4 large egg whites

1 cup superfine sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon almond extract

Nonstick cooking spray

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet liberally with cooking spray.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and sugar, and beat on medium speed, about 30 seconds.

Add flour and salt, and beat until combined. Add butter, heavy cream, and almond extract, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

Pour 1 tablespoon of batter onto half of the baking sheet, and spread with the back of a spoon into a thin 5-inch circle; repeat on the other half of the sheet. Bake until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown, about 8 minutes.

Transfer baking sheet to a heat-resistant surface. Working as quickly as possible, slide a spatula (an offset spatula, available at specialty kitchen shops, works best) under one of the cookies. Lift it up, and place it on a clean kitchen towel.

Using your fingers, fold the cookie in half, pinching the top together to form a loose semicircle. Hold the cookie with your index fingers inserted at each open end, and slide your thumbs together along the bottom line. Press into the center of the cookie while bending the two open ends together and down to form the shape of a fortune cookie. This whole process should take about 10 seconds. Once the cookie hardens, which begins to happen almost immediately, you cannot fold it. Place the fortune cookie on the kitchen towel to cool.

Sad, I know.

Repeat until all the batter is used up. To speed up the process, bake four cookies at a time, staggering two cookie sheets by 4 minutes to give you time to shape. To avoid wasting batter, practice folding with a circle of paper first.

Write your message on a long strip of sturdy art paper, such as Japanese moriki. Thread the fortune through the cookie when it has cooled.

Good Luck!! If you happen to be sucessful with this recipe or have any tips please comment below. I would love feedback!

Day 28: Anise Biscotti with White and Milk Chocolate

Since Dane was in kindergarten I have been getting together with a group of moms for a monthly lunch date. It started on a nice sunny day when we decided to take the kids to the park after school and bring a picnic lunch. As the kids got older and started going to school all day, this monthly lunch became a time for us to get together and actually chat. This group of women have shared in each other's joys and sorrows and has become a great source of support and fun.

One of our lunches fell during biscotti week. I made these delectable treats to bring to the girls.

Anise Biscotti with White and Milk Chocolate Drizzle

(Biscotti Recipe by Rocco Dispirito, Chocolate Drizzle was Noah's Idea)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon anise extract, or 3 drops anise oil

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, beat together the oil, eggs, sugar and anise flavoring until well blended.

Combine the flour and baking powder, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough.

Divide dough into 2 pieces. Form each piece into a roll as long as your cookie sheet. Place roll onto the prepared cookie sheet, and press down to 1/2-inch thickness.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. When the cookies are cool enough to handle, slice each 1 crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Place the slices cut side up back onto the baking sheet. Bake for an additional 6 to 10 minutes on each side. Cookie slices should be lightly toasted.

In small dishes melt milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips in the microwave.

Place baked biscotti on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle chocolates over the top of the biscotti.

Noah drizzled the chocolate. It was a fun way for him to get involved.  

Day 27: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies by Christina Nesbitt

The final COD guest blogger is my cousin, Christina. Having boys the same ages has allowed us to bond with each other on a whole new level.There is nothing like the understanding of another mother of boys!! I only wish we lived a little closer to each other:)

Not only is Christina a very good baker she is an extremely talented photographer. The pictures she took below will by far be the best pictures you will see on this blog. Christina is one of the most supportive people I know. She always has something positive to say. Her children are wonderful and I admire the parent she has become. I'm looking forward meeting her new addition soon :). Below is a picture of us and with our grandpa. One of my favorite pictures ever!

Michelle, Andrea, Christina, Stephanie and Emily with Grandpa Caponi

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Growing up in the Caponi family and having 2 children of my own (with a 3rd on the way),  I looked up to my Grandma Caponi immensely when it came to my baking and cooking, so much in fact, that my boys’ lunches are not complete without a homemade cookie. Being a Caponi has taught me not only to make homemade cookies but homemade pasta, pizza and breads too! It tastes better when it is homemade!

When my boys were little we would spend afternoons baking. I always found it a good way to fill a rainy afternoon plus it was a great bonding experience! Some of my favorite memories are when my boys were little helping me bake. It wasn’t always the cleanest experience but it was fun! Now that they are 9 and 7 our schedules are much busier. Between school, work, basketball games, soccer practices and friends it is nice that every so often we can still come together and bond over some dough.
In remembering the times when they were little, I made chocolate crinkle cookies. They loved making these because they enjoyed rolling the dough into balls and then rolling the balls into powder sugar!

Chocolate Crinkles

2 cups plus 2 tbsp of flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup of butter, at room temp.
1 ¾ cups of sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 square (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate, melted
½ cups of confections’ sugar

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy.

Beat in eggs until mixture is pale yellow,

then add vanilla and chocolate until blended. Gradually add flour mixture mixing just to blend. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.

Heat oven 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Shape dough into about 1 ¼ inch balls.

Roll in confectioners’ sugar.

 

Place on a baking sheet.

Bake about 12 minutes until tops are puffed and cracked.