Variations on a Theme

So, we’re getting close to the end of the semester; midterms are done. I’m really looking forward to the end of this year. I’ve had just about enough of school already and being done this year means I’ve only got (hopefully) two more to go.

It also means that the guys at work are going to get their weekly dose of cookies.

The new cubes we have at work (yes, I’m in a cube; I can’t wait until summer when I can work on site again – I much prefer a construction trailer to a spot in a cube farm) each have their own whiteboards, and mine of course has a “Cookie Requests” spot. The estimators have been hounding me for peanut butter, and the accountants have been begging for creamsicle cookies.

I don’t know what it is about peanut butter cookies, but people seem to want them more than other kind of cookie. Whenever I ask for suggestions on what to make, I’m bound to have at least 2 people tell me “peanut butter.”

I don’t like peanut butter cookies. At all. Never have, never will. I conceded last summer and made a peanut butter oatmeal no-bake cookie for them (I’m not fond of oatmeal either and thought I’d kill two birds with one stone), and while they were well received, I was getting requests for more peanut butter the next week! These people are insatiable.

So, I know I’m just going to keep getting hassled by these peabutt nutters, and I’m hoping I can hold them off for a while with a variation.

Almond Butter Cookies

What you need:

• ¾ c butter
• ¾ c almond butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla/almond extract/amaretto liqueur
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 ¾ c flour
• ¾ c dried cherries

Oh yeah, the sliced almonds... I didn't bother using them. You can try adding them if you'd like.

What you gotta do:

WARNING: I'm totally winging it here and taking you along for the ride as I make up a new cookie recipe.

So, I had about ¾ of a cup of butter and didn’t want to bother actually measuring half a cup (the usual amount I use for cookies) so I just dumped it all into the bowl. I’d been thinking I’d use a full cup of almond butter, but as I was pouring it into the measuring cup I realized that 1 cup would probably be too much.

Plus, I like recipes where all of the ingredients have similar or proportional measurements. It’s a bit of an OCD thing for me, but I don’t mind because I find that it usually simplifies recipes nicely. (Go look, you’ll see, I rarely mix halves and thirds)

Once the butters are combined, add the eggs

and then the extract. I’ve been soaking dried cherries in amaretto liqueur for a while now,

and used some of the cherry tinted liqueur.

Since I was totally winging this, and not entirely sure how much flour I’d need, I added it half a cup at a time, starting with a full cup. And sprinkled the baking powder on top of the flour, rather than sifting them together. I know sifting is considered very important by some people, but I rarely bother and things usually work out just fine.

Okay, so, one cup is not enough.

One and a half, not quite either.

I was really hoping to make a drop cookie, with a dough as soft as something like a chocolate chip cookie… um, I have no recipe that I can link back to! WTF. How did we make it through an entire year without making brownies or chocolate chip cookies?? ah ha! Taneasha kinda did chocolate chip... still, I think we're going to have to do a chips only post.

Anyway, drop cookie. That’s what I was going for. But that last half a cup…

Really should have been only a quarter cup.

Huh. That means that rather than 2 cups of flour, I need 1 ¾. Awesome.

So, I chopped up the ¾ c dried cherries and stirred them in.

But since I used 2 cups, I had a firmer dough that didn’t “drop” well onto the cookie sheet. I really didn’t want to go with the shaped ball pressed down with a crisscross of forks, so I just “dropped” the balls onto the sheet.

Yeah, totally dropped the ball on this one. They didn’t spread at all. And 12 minutes at 375 was too long.

Yes, 375 degrees. Preheat your oven now.

So, the next set, I rolled into balls and then flattened a bit with my hand, and baked them for only 10 minutes.

Better.

By the end of the dough, I’d given in and was rolling and flattening the cookies into symmetrical discs before baking them.

So much for drop cookies.

Also, after tasting a few, I realized that it’s not just peanut butter cookies I don’t like. It must be something about the nut butter… it just doesn’t make sense. I like peanut butter on toast. I like using it in hoisin sauce. I even like almond butter on toast and in amarettis, which are a cookie… but they’re more of a meringue/macaroon than they are a cookie…

Sigh. I’m so weird.

Oh well, at least the guys at work liked them.

 What kind of cookie don't you like?

I Want My Cheesy Poofs!!

Obviously that was probably not the picture that popped into your mind when you read the words cheesy poofs.  Well, I have something so much better than those bright orange, artificially flavored, crunchy cheese snacks.  My cheesy poofs are little, two bite hors d’oeuvres.  Their texture is somewhere between a muffin and a biscuit and they’re loaded with smoked sausage, green onion, and tons of cheddar cheese.  Seriously, look up at that picture again.  Haven’t seen many things more drool worthy than that, have you?  And best of all, they’re simple to make!

Here’s what you’ll need:     

1 ¼ cup flour
1 cup light cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon coarse pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 ½ cups grated cheese
½ cup green onion
1 cup diced smoked sausage

I used 10 of the little Beeler’s smoked sausages.  If you can’t find that brand, I’m sure you can use one of the others.  Take each little sausage and cut it into quarters lengthwise. 

Then cut those strips into little pieces. 

Throw them into a pan over medium heat and cook them just long enough to cook off a little of their liquid and brown them slightly.  Then just set them aside to cool while you work on the other stuff.  Go ahead and grate your cheese, I used a combo of extra sharp and medium cheddar, and chop your green onions.  I think I used 7 or 8. 

If you grind your own black pepper, turn it just about as coarse as it will go, and crack about ½ teaspoon. 

Throw all your dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk them together.

In a separate container, whisk together the cream and egg.

Add the cheese, onion, and cooled sausage to the flour mixture. 

Stir until everything is evenly distributed and coated, then pour over the cream. 

Stir just until the liquid is incorporated.  It’ll be a fairly thick mixture, more like a dough than a batter. 

Spoon the mixture into a mini muffin tin.  My pan is coated with silicone so things won’t stick, but if you’re pan isn’t, you might want to spray it or butter it. 

Fill each up to the top, pressing the mixture down to level it out and fill the corner of the cup. 

Place the pan into the freezer for 30 minutes.  This step helps to chill the fat and relax the gluten, which in turn makes them tender and well… poofy!  After 15 minutes, preheat your oven to 375°.  When the 30 minutes are up, pull the pan out of the freezer and pop it into the oven for 22 – 27 minutes.  During that time, glorious things are going to happen. 

They should be just starting to brown on top, and will probably have brown cheese extracurriculars (as I like to call them) around the edges.  Don’t worry about those… they are crispy and delicious. 

Remove them from the pan and allow them to cool for just a few minutes before devouring.  Pile them onto a plate for your guests… or yourself. 

Ok, I might not recommend eating that many in one sitting, but you might not be able to stop yourself.  I mean, just look at that sausagey, oniony, cheesy goodness. 

If can pretty much guarantee you’ll be singing this song after your first bite.