Chocolate Chip Cookies, Butter Vs Margarine Or What?

If you are having a problem like this, try using different shortenings in the same recipe. For a true test make the chocolate chip cookies at the same time and keep the recipe identical. Making the same number of cookies from each recipe is also necessary. Do tests using butter, margarine, solid shortening, butter flavored solid shortening and a lard recipe. All shortenings should be at room temperature when mixing. You will notice a difference right away in the feel of the cookie dough. After baking, a noticeable difference is apparent in the appearance of the cookies; something to remember if you want a nice presentation. Taste each cookie while warm and also when they are cold. Crispness and crunchiness are more apparent in the cold cookies. Be sure to drink water in between each taste.

The first chocolate chip cookies to mix up should be a butter vs margarine. You will notice that the butter dough is soft, while the margarine dough is almost too soft to handle. Now this could vary depending on which brands of butter and margarine used. Some have more of a water content than others. After baking, you will immediately notice that both cookies made with butter and margarine lost their shape while spreading. A taste will reveal a richer flavor in the butter cookies. Also the butter seems to enhance the flavor of the chocolate chips. An aftertaste seems to linger from the margarine cookies. Cookies made with the butter produces the chewiest ones.

Cookies

The lard recipe makes a dry cookie dough. Lard is the fat from pigs and used to be very popular in home baking. It is still the choice in shortening in many countries and makes very good pie crust. Although the cookies taste good, lard just does not have the flavor like butter does for those chocolate chip cookies. The spread of the cookies is even greater than the butter and margarine thus diminishing the appearance.

Chocolate Chip Cookies, Butter Vs Margarine Or What?

The cookie dough using solid shortening is firm but not dry like the lard. The most noticeable characteristic is apparent while baking. The cookies become puffier with less spread, which makes a nice appearance for presentation. The taste is good but not as good as chocolate chip cookies made with butter, lard or margarine. Using the same brand of solid shortening but with imitation butter flavor added, produces different results. The dough is a little softer, but the appearance of the baked cookies is about the same. The biggest difference comes in the taste, not rating near as good as the butter, lard, margarine or plain solid shortening. Both of the solid shortenings produce the crispiest cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies, Butter Vs Margarine Or What?

Frances Peffly Moore, chef and author, with help from her daughter, Kelly have created http://www.painlesscooking.com to help people with basic cooking. One important key in cooking and baking is knowing the difference in shortenings. http://www.painlesscooking.com/the-chocolate-touch.html

Classic Cookies - Italian Wedding Cookies

It is also known as "Mexican wedding cookie". Italian Wedding Cakes is effortless and simple to make recipe. It is hard to give explanation how tasty this Italian Wedding Cakes is. Here is some information about Classic Cookies - Italian Wedding Cookies

1. History of Classic Cookies
2. The texture of the Classic Cookies

Cookies

1. History of Classic Cookies:

Classic Cookies - Italian Wedding Cookies

The name "wedding cookies" is a remaining mystery to all. A small number of Latinos bake them in their resident countries for their family. In fact, there is no actual word for them in Spanish. Recipes for them are not present from for the most Mexican and Russian-language cookbooks. More people are questioning still is why they are connected with weddings. Brides and grooms will offer them at their receptions. Italian Wedding Cookies are Pignoli, Biscotti, Pizelle, Cucidati, Butter Cookies, Seed Cookies, Anise Cookies, Lady Lock Cookies and Peanut Butter Blossoms.

In the wedding guests, too, if a 7-foot-long table filled with Classic Cookies - Italian Wedding Cookies will awaits you at the reception. It signifies an impression of the bride and groom at a wedding. The cookie table was a wedding ceremony custom. It was a cultural in Italy. Women family members from both sides of the families would start months earlier than the wedding making their favourite cookies. The cookies are brought to the wedding ceremony along with other presents for the couple. The cookies would be presented on long tables. Guests of the wedding ceremony come to the reception, find their table or seat, and go to the cookie table. They use plates to get their favourite cookies.

2. The texture of the Classic Cookies:

There is a unique cookie, known to numerous individuals. It is easily broken and fine, with plenty of different names that indicate the same thing. It is a melt-in-the-mouth confectionery with a lot of cherish with warm and loving memories to all. Sometimes it is blurring but always with loving recollections of mother or grandmother baking, with friends and family gathered round for festive occasions. The kitchens covered with the sweet aroma of a unique and well baked morsel that comes with a butter-and-nut flavour.

Classic Cookies - Italian Wedding Cookies

Balajee Kannan has written several articles in topics including ceramic cookie jars [http://www.ceramiccookiejars.org/], hair dryer attachments [http://www.hairdryerattachments.org/], wedding bouquets, battery chargers.

Bisquick Recipes Cookies - Easy & Quick To Prepare!

These bisquick recipes cookies are quick, easy and delicious. Just check these out and I'm sure you'll be amazingly surprised.

So here we go for some bisquick recipes cookies:

Cookies

>> Bisquick Cookies

Bisquick Recipes Cookies - Easy & Quick To Prepare!

1 egg

1 instant pudding/small package

1/4 c oil

3/4 c bisquick

Combine all ingredients. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet.
Flatten slightly. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

>> Bisquick Sausage

1 lb cheddar cheese

1 lb breakfast sausage

3 c bisquick mix

Combine sausage, bisquick and grated cheese and mix very well. Form into 1 to 2 inch size balls. Place on un greased baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. May be made ahead and frozen.

>> Bisquick Butterscotch Brownies

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 box brown sugar

1 can coconut

1 stick butter- room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups bisquick® baking mix

4 large eggs

Mix all ingredients and bake in 9x13 baking pan. Bake on preheated 350f oven for 45 minutes. Cool on rack, cut while warm.

>> Strawberry Shortcake (Bisquick)

2 Pt strawberries -- sliced

2/3 c sugar

2 1/3 c bisquick

3 tb sugar

3 tb margarine or butter -- melted

1/2 c milk

3/4 c whipping (heavy) cream

Sprinkle strawberries with 2/3 c. Sugar; let stand 1
hr.

Preheat oven to 425 f.

Mix bisquick, 3 tb. Sugar, margarine and milk until
soft dough forms. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls into
6 mounds on ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with
sugar. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Beat whipping cream in chilled bowl until stiff.
Split shortcakes; spoon strawberries between halves
and over tops. Top with whipped cream.

High altitude: heat oven to 450 f. Decrease the 3 tb.
Sugar in shortcakes to 1 tb.

That's it for today! If you want more bisquick recipes cookies, be sure to visit us today at:

Bisquick Recipes Cookies - Easy & Quick To Prepare!

Quick Easy Recipes Secrets [http://www.quickrecipesdy.info/] Is The Favorite Cooking Newsletter On The Net. Visit Us Today!

Swedish Christmas Cookies - A Recipe To Make Pepparkakor

Christmas is a special time in Scandinavia and Sweden in particular. Tradition and Heritage are extremely important to Swedish culture and there are many traditions which are widely upheld. In most traditional Swedish homes, the smell of home baked foods and desserts fill the air at Christmas time. The Swedes really love to cook and for many, the holiday season and the Christmas Eve celebration is the highlight of their year.

One recipe, which is very popular in Sweden, is for a cookie called the Pepparkakor.

Cookies

Pepparkakor, literally translated, means "pepper cookies" but I've yet to see a recipe that included any pepper. They are similar to the American gingersnap cookie but they are generally thinner, crisper and smoother in texture.

Swedish Christmas Cookies - A Recipe To Make Pepparkakor

Many refer to this cookie as a "ginger thin" and they are commonly called "gingernuts" in the United Kingdom. Besides their great taste, pepparkakor cookies are used as Christmas decorations as well. They are frequently shaped like little men or women, pigs, hearts or goats. If left round, they are decorated with frosting to give them more character.

Using a drinking straw, you can create a small hole in the pepparkakor cookie prior to baking. After the cookie has cooled, tie the cookie to the Christmas tree with a beautiful white or red colored ribbon.

Swedish Christmas Cookies or Pepparkakor

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies (depending on shape/size)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

8 ounces butter

2/3 cup water

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 egg

1 tablespoon light (or dark) corn syrup

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

Preparation:

The dough should be well-chilled before baking. You can either start a day early and chill overnight, or start preparing 1-2 hours before the cookies will be needed.

In a heavy pot, combine the molasses, sugars, spices and water. Turn the heat up and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring frequently.

Add the butter to the mixture (in pads or chunks) and remove the pot from the heat. Continue stirring the mixture until the butter has melted and the mixture is uniform in consistency. Pour the hot mixture into a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, combine the flour, corn syrup, egg and baking soda and whisk until well-blended. Combine with the hot mixture and stir until the dough has formed. Place the dough on a lightly floured board and knead for 1-2 minutes. Wrap the dough in waxed paper and chill until the dough is firm (1-2 hours or overnight).

On a lightly floured board, roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch in thickness (the thinner, the crisper) and either cut into shapes or make round cookies about 2 inches in diameter. Put the cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool.

About the only thing left to do is to enjoy these fabulous Swedish Christmas cookies with the ones you love... Enjoy!

Swedish Christmas Cookies - A Recipe To Make Pepparkakor

Holly Hallberg studied French and Art History at the Sorbonne and graduated from the American University of Paris. As a lover of modern Scandinavian design and architecture, Holly travels each year to find new Scandinavian Designers and the products they create.

For modern Scandinavian design objects, furniture, clothing and toys, visit her online store at: http://www.huset-shop.com

Shrek Gingerbread Man Cookies and Crafts

GINGERBREAD MAN FOAM OR WOOD MAGNETS

Materials:

Cookies

Light brown craft foam or craft wood in shape of gingerbread man

Shrek Gingerbread Man Cookies and Crafts

Acrylic paints - light brown, white, red, light blue and purple

Ribbon or Stick-on magnets

Method:

Using this Gingy picture as a guide, cut out brown craft foam in the shape of a gingerbread man. If you prefer, use craft wood in the shape of a gingerbread man and paint it light brown.

Using white paint, detail eyes, cuffs, and belt. Add blue eyebrows, red mouth, and purple buttons. (Of course you can use your own colors, but it won't look exactly like our Gingy!) -Glue a ribbon to the top to make an ornament or a magnetic strip to make a magnet.

Gingerbread Man: Fire up the ovens, Muffin Man! We've got a big order to fill! [lightning flashes] IT'S ALIIIIVE!

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GINGERBREAD MAN "GINGY" COOKIES

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. ground cloves

2 tbsp. vinegar

5 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. ginger

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup molasses

1 egg

Thoroughly cream shortening, sugar, and salt. Stir in eggs, molasses, and vinegar. Beat well. Sift dry ingredients, stir into molasses mixture. Chill 3 hours.

On lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/8 inch thick. Use gingerbread boy and girl cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 5 minutes. Decorate, using the Gingy picture as a guide. Makes 5 to 6 dozen, depending on size of cookie cutter.

Shrek: Do you still know the muffin man?

Gingerbread Man: He's down on Drury Lane. Why?

Shrek: Because we're gonna need flour. Lots and lots of flour.

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MAKE GINGY FROM PUMPKIN PLAYDOH

5 1/2 Cups Flour

2 Cups Salt

8 teaspoons Cream of Tartar

3 1/2 Cup Oil

1 1/2 ounces Pumpkin Pie Spice

Orange Food Coloring (2 parts yellow, 1 part red)

4 Cups Water

Mix all of the ingredients together. Cook and stir over medium heat until lumps disappear. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth. Makes plenty for a group.

Gingerbread Man: Well, folks, it looks like we're up chocolate creek without a popsicle stick!

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MAKE GINGY FROM PLAY CLAY

2 c. baking soda (1 lb.)

1 c. cornstarch

1 1/4 c. cold water

liquid food coloring of choice

Acrylic or poster paints

Varnish, shellac or clear nail polish (opt.)

Stir together baking soda and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add water and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. When mixture is consistency of moist mashed potatoes, turn into a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let cool.

When Play Clay has cooled, it will have consistency of modeling clay. Use to form your Gingerbread Man. Unused Play Clay may be stored in a tightly sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator. Return to room temperature before using again.

Relatively flat items (1/8" thick) should dry overnight. Thicker objects take longer to dry. To shorten drying time, place clay objects in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Watch closely so items do not crack.

Color may be added to clay in several ways. Add liquid food coloring to clay as it is being made or paint finished objects, after they've hardened and dried, with acrylic or poster paints.

Copyright 2005 Kids Party Paradise All Rights Reserved

Shrek Gingerbread Man Cookies and Crafts

Patricia B. Jensen is a mother of three and kids party enthusiast. She is the webmaster and owner of Kids-Party-Paradise.com - a complete resource for kids party ideas including invitations, cakes, decorations, games, costumes, favors, and food.

Subscribe to the Kids Party Paradise Newsletter and get timely updates on popular new party ideas and themes, and so much more...

Italian Christmas Cookies - Anise Cookies

Whether a part of the assortment of Italian Christmas cookies or at a baby shower or wedding, these anise cookies are constantly making an appearances at my family celebrations (With a simple drop of food coloring they're perfect for any occasion!) If the licorice taste of anise doesn't suit you, try using almond, vanilla or even lemon extract...they are all delicious!

Makes about 8 dozen

Cookies

Cookie Ingredients

Italian Christmas Cookies - Anise Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons anise extract (almond, vanilla or lemon can also be used!)
2 1/2 - 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2-3 tablespoons milk
Icing Ingredients

2 cups confectioners' sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk
1/8 teaspoon anise extract (optional)
food coloring (optional)
sprinkles of your choice(optional)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your cookie sheets or pans by covering them with parchment paper.

To prepare these Italian Christmas cookies, get a large bowl and combine the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy, which should take anywhere between 3 and 5 minutes. Crack in each egg, making sure to mix well after each one. Add your choice of extract.

Now combine the flour and baking powder, sifting it together so that there are no chunks of baking powder together. Take about a third of these dry ingredients and add them to the wet ones, using a hand or stand mixer to combine them. Then add about a tablespoon of milk. Repeat this process by adding another third of the flour mixture to your batter, and then another spoon of milk. The last batch of flour should be added very slowly, mixing in between so that you can determine how much flour is enough. You want the batter to be very easy to mold, but not sticking to your hands. The dough should not be stiff! If you add too much flour, try adding a few more drops of milk until the batter is easy to manage.

Using a tablespoon, drop balls of the batter onto the baking sheets, leaving space for them to bake and puff up in the oven.

Stick your pan in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until they puff up and the bottoms begin to turn a light golden brown.

While the cookies are baking, mix together the confectioners sugar, milk and extract of your choice (if you are using it). At this point you can also add food coloring if you want your icing to be a special color. White is also just as nice though!

After the cookies have mostly cooled, hold each one upside down and dip into your frosting glaze. flip it over and let it rest on a flat surface covered with wax paper. If you intend to use sprinkles, only dip a few at time and then sprinkle them, or else the frosting will harden and sprinkles will no longer stick. (If your frosting begins to harden before you are done dipping just microwave it for about 10 seconds to let melt again!)

Let the frosting harden to the touch, arrange on a plate and get ready to serve these Italian Christmas cookies to your family and friends!

Italian Christmas Cookies - Anise Cookies

http://www.tasty-italian-cooking.com