Coffee Crunch Cookies: Easy cookie for coffee lover!

Coffee is the favorite flavor for my family member, you can see from my blog that there are a lot of sweet with a coffee flavor.
And this cookie is one of them, the combination of nut and the coffee turn into a delicious cookie.

First I made this cookie when I don't want to eat an egg, so I just browsed through the book:  It looks like a textbook than a cookbook, with a lot of recipes (but some of them are look alike, haha) anyway this book will give you a wide range of cookie recipes, and all of them have a picture to show you how they will be like.

This cookie is very easy to make. Because there is no egg in this cookie so the texture of the cookie is more crumbly not cake like.
This cookie is best served with a cup of milk or coffee, because when eating together the cookie will melt by the milk and turn into delicious flavor in your mouth.It's better to use the instance coffee with a small granule or ground it before adding it into the flour mixture.

Coffee Crunch Cookies
Makes 13-15 cookies

125g	All purpose flour
½ tsp	Baking powder
¼ tsp	Salt
125g	Unsalted butter
50g	Granulated sugar
70g	Walnuts
2tsp	Instant coffee granules
1-2 tbsp	Milk

Preheat the oven to 190°C
Line sheet pans with parchment.

Coarsely chop the walnut, and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder, instant coffee granules and salt together, set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light, and pour the flour mixture and walnut into the butter mixture. Add the milk and mix well.
Use a 2-ounce self-releasing ice-cream scoop to measure out the cookie dough.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Coffee Crunch Cookies: Easy cookie for coffee lover!

Macarons de poivre et saumon fumé: Pepper macarons with smoked salmon

December is a month of parties, or you can say a lot of ^ ^. So, the recipe for this month has to be great for party too. I had made a sweet macarons before, but I think there will be great to try the salée variety too.

I choose to make the pepper and salt macaron from the idea that the pepper and salt will bring the sweet macaron the hot and salty flavor.

I made 3 batches of it, the first because I want to test the recipe, I made only half the recipe but used the water for the full recipe, you can guess the result, >*<. My macaron turn out to be a cracking meringue haha! For the second time, I made a mistake from the fact that when sprinkle the salt over the macaron before letting it dry, the salt absorb the water from the air and turn the surface of the macaron into the moon surface, -*-. I don't know why I always have all this silly problem. I have a suggestion for anyone who have a problem of cracking macaron, you have to remember that the key for baking the macaron is the top of the macaron should dry and firm before the bottom of the macaron is cooked. So, when the top is dry, it won't crack but the bottom still wet and the air can escape from the bottom and create the epi (or the skirt). Many books told to use the heavy pan or double layer it, and I think it's good idea, but if you have another problem like the macaron undercooked after using the double pan (may be your pan is very heavy like me, haha), just take the second pan out after baking for 3-4 minutes. This macaron is not kept well, because the salt will absorb the water from the air and make the macaron wet.

Pepper macarons with smoked salmon
Makes about 30

Macaron
For the macaron base
75 g	almond powder
75 g	icing sugar
30 g	egg whites
	Freshly grounded black pepper
	Salt for sprinkle
For Italian Meringue
75 g	caster sugar
30 g	water
30 g	egg whites
Salmon cream cheese filling
200 g	Cream cheese
1 tsp	Lemon juice
1 tsp	Dill (chopped)
1/2 tsp	Lemon zest
	Freshly grounded black pepper
	Salt
15 g	Smoked salmon

Preheat the oven to 140°C.

Sift together almond powder and icing sugar into a bowl, put egg white into the bowl. Use a pastry scrap to bring everything together. Set aside.

Make the Italian meringue:

In a sauce pan, put the sugar and water and bring to boil over medium low heat.
When the syrup reaches 100°C, start whisking the egg whites.

The syrup is ready when it reaches 110°C; pour it over the egg whites and continue whisking until cold.

Mix together the base and Italian meringue.

The mixture should be softer and very glossy, a little stiffer then cake batter.

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle. Pipe or spoon mixture into 3 cm rounds onto baking paper-lined (or Silpat) oven trays. When you’ve pipe out all the macarons lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter (you need to get the air out of the batter). Sprinkle the macaron with the black pepper. Let the macarons rest for 1 hour, and sprinkle with the salt before baking.

Bake for 9 minutes to 15 minutes depend on your oven. Remove from oven and cool on trays. Slide a knife under each macaron to release.

Make the filling:

Beat everything together except the salmon.
Pipe the filling into the macorons, place the salmon and sandwich macarons together.

The macoron is ready!

Macarons de poivre et saumon fumé: Pepper macarons with smoked salmon

Chicken Farm Baker Special Project: Let's it snow, welcome winter!

The winter time comes again, and to cerebrate the month that will be filled with a lot of joy I told my friend to create something that will make us say "Welcome" to the winter with happy tone.


Actually, the reason for this project is easy, ^ ^, my friend and I just got the snowflake cookie cutter set, they are very cute, with a lot of shape and size. So, we thought about using them and post it together, but as we have a lot of friend, it's not a good idea to do it without inviting them to play with us.


So, from the simple project like making cookie in a snowflake shape, the people who will joy this special project can make any kind of dessert, cake, cookies or etc., and decorate it with the snowflake shape or theme.


I still make the cookie as I decide on the first place, and the other reason is I want to try the recipe from the new book:. I just order it after I fall in love with her book: .............. I think that if she can make a good book for cake recipe, her book about the cookie will be good too, haha.
The cookie is good but it will be hard to work with if the weather is quite warm, because the dough contains a lot of butter. But because of the butter, the cookie taste good! Anyway when you making it just keep the dough cool and it will be easier to cut and move.
For the icing, I choose to make it from the meringue powder, because it is easy to work with and it's already pasteurized.
So, come together with me and enjoy the winter together!

- my cookie cutter -

Adaptation from: The Good Cookie: Over 250 Delicious Recipes from Simple to Sublime by Tish Boyle

Snowflake cookies
Make about 36 (3inches cookie)

Basic decorative cookie dough
3¼ cups	All purpose flour (410g)
¼ tsp	Salt
1¼ cups	Unsalted butter (279g)
1 cup	granulated sugar (200g)
1	Large egg
1	Large egg yolk
1tbsp	Vanilla extract
1tsp	Orange extract (optional)

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer; using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and orange extract and mix until well blended. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture one-third at a time, mixing just until combined. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide it into 4 pieces.

Shape each piece into a disk (I shape into a block), wrap well in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until firm (or up to 2 days).


3. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll one of the dough disks out to a thickness of ⅛ inch. Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes (save the scraps for rerolling). Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them 1½ inch apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 10 to 15 minutes, until pale golden brown (baking time will vary depending on the size and shape of the cookies). Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

decorator's icing
3 tablespoons	meringue powder
6 tablespoons	warm water
1-pound	confectioners' sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment beat the meringue powder; water; and confectioners' sugar at medium-low speed until the icing forms stiff peaks, about 7 minutes. Thin the icing to the consistency you want by adding a little warm water, a few drops at a time.

Decorating the cookie:


1.Flooding
Thin some of the icing with water (adding it drop by drop) until it's thin enough to pipe the smooth line.
In another bowl thin some of the icing with water (adding it drop by drop) until it does not leave a trail when it drops from a spoon.


Outline the cookie and pour the thiner icing over the center. Spread the icing over the cookie .
Let the icing dry before decorating with more icing.


2. Flocking


Pipe the icing over the cookie, while the icing is still wet, sprinkle it with fine sanding sugar, let stand for 5 minutes and shake off the excess.


Note: If you want to apply the dragées, do it before the icing hardens.

Chicken Farm Baker Special Project: Let's it snow, welcome winter!