When I was a kid, I loved when my grandma would make a pie. Not so much because of the pie itself (unless it was apple), but because of what she would do with the leftover crust. She’d sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar, then bake until it was golden brown.

If you’re a pastry fan, like me, the crust can be the best part. And when sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar, it’s the perfect afternoon treat. These days, I enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee, but back then, milk did the trick.

Pie Crust with Cinnamon and Sugar

pie crust scraps
ground cinnamon
granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Arrange pie crust on parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle first with cinnamon, then with sugar (do the cinnamon first so it doesn’t burn). Spread pieces out to allow even baking, then bake until golden-brown, about 11-15 minutes.

Cool completely before eating.

Remember when “vegetable oil spreads” threatened to take over the home bakers’ kitchen? At the time, so many of us (meaning me) thought we were improving our health by shunning margarine and butter, and choosing the “healthy” spread, but a not-so-funny-result occurred: our (my) baked goods were terrible.

It took awhile before the collective “we” figured out what the issue was, but eventually, cookbooks started to warn against using those spreads in baked goods because all they did was produce flop after flop. My mom thought something happened to her trusty bakeware, and frankly, I was still too young to really understand the chemistry of baking.

However, back in those days, I was still a little baker at heart, and it was not uncommon for me to sort through my mom’s recipe box, looking for a new recipe to try. Though this recipe for chocolate crinkles isn’t the one I tried back then, I did have a massive chocolate crinkle failure that I’m guessing was due to a spread. The cookie tasted delicious – like a giant brownie coated with confectioners’ sugar. Yum.

But 20 little balls of dough ended up as one very large cookie.

When I decided to try these cookies again, and I found a recipe using oil instead of butter (which I had none of and was quite pricey), it seemed fate was stepping in to help me out. The cookies are great – chewy, full of chocolate flavor, a lot like brownies with a touch of holiday flair. I know it seems odd that in a post about vegetable oil spreads, I finally use a recipe that uses oil, but whatever. Butter is rather pricey these days, and if I can save someone a little money by using canola oil in some cookies, so be it.

Chocolate Crinkles
adapted from Betty Crocker

1/2 cup (118 mL) canola oil
4 ounces (113 grams) unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
2 cups (550 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon prepared strong coffee (breakfast leftovers are fine)
4 large eggs (room temperature)
2 cups (220 grams) unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup (60 grams) confectioners’ sugar

In large bowl, combine oil, chocolate, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition with a wooden spoon.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt; stir until just combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F/176C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or grease with cooking spray. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into confectioners’ sugar and roll into balls. Place balls on sheet, evenly spaced, about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch (the white sugar should form cracks). Cool on pan for 10 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Earlier this week, I posted a Thanksgiving-leftovers-transformation recipe, and now I have another. Last year, after the Thanksgiving meal at my parents’, I tossed the Turkey carcass and some veggies in a pot to make stock. That stock ended up in pot pies I made from our leftovers.

In my family, we tend to prefer the white meat, but the dark meat is wonderful recooked in another meal. Because of its slightly higher fat content, it’s more difficult to dry it out when reheating. The result is bites of succulent turkey with vegetables, gravy, and pastry. Do leftovers get any better than that?

Turkey Pot Pies (adjust recipe as needed for number of servings desired)
Pie Crust or Puff Pastry

I did something rather silly last week. On Halloween, I took a full turkey breast out of the freezer to thaw. It takes a few days to thaw in the fridge, and it wasn’t until later in the week that it occured to me that Thanksgiving was fast approaching. Yes, I know Thanksgiving is in November, but it just didn’t seem like it should be Thanksgiving yet.

It was too late to put the turkey back in the freezer, so on Friday night, B and I had a nice turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy, courtesy of my favorite easy recipe. Now, two people can’t really put that much of a dent in a turkey breast, so I had lots of leftovers.

I generally don’t like leftover mashed potatoes but thought I could make a variation of a cottage pie with turkey, and simply use my basic pot pie recipe for the filling, substituting about a cup of shredded turkey for the chicken breast. With this version, rather than go out to buy a bag of frozen vegetables (I generally use a mix of broccoli/cauliflower/carrots for my pot pies – not traditional, but I feel better when I don’t include heavy, starchy vegetables), I used what I had in my fridge.

It all came together rather quickly, which was nice. I immediately started thinking that it could be a useful recipe post-Thanksgiving, when you simply can’t face another turkey sandwich.

Turkey Cottage Pie

Print Recipe

1 cup cooked turkey breast, shredded
salt & pepper
1 cup chicken/turkey stock
1 chicken bouillon cube
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon half and half
1/2 cup chopped green beans or asparagus
1/2 cup diced carrots
generous sprinkle poultry seasoning or herbs de provence
leftover mashed potatoes
paprika and freshly ground black pepper for garnish

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken/turkey stock over medium-high heat. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and sweat the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the carrots and sauté until soft. Add beans/asparagus and cook until bright green.

Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes until the flour scent is gone, but the color hasn’t yet turned dark. Slowly add the hot stock to the flour mixture, whisking constantly. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, whisking, until thick. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir in half and half. Add the turkey and a sprinkle of poultry seasoning, if using. Taste for seasoning, adjust as needed.

If using leftover, cold mashed potatoes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 2 oven- and broiler-proof bowls and top with mashed potatoes*. Sprinkle potatoes with paprika and freshly ground black pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes if potatoes are leftover and cold. (If potatoes are warm, proceed to next step.)

Broil cottage pies 6-8 inches from the broiler until the potatoes start to brown. Remove from oven and enjoy (but remember the dishes are HOT!)

Print my mashed potato recipe

Ok, let me just get this out there. As evidenced by these pictures, I am not an artist. Not even close. It would have been easier to simply use candy for the eyes, and probably the nose, too. But my real cat has these beautiful green eyes, and I wanted to at least attempt to somewhat replicate them, especially since it was, er, her birthday party. (Yes, we had a little family party for my cat’s 10th birthday. If you have a pet, or a kitty-obsessed toddler in your family, I’m sure you understand.)

I used a cake pattern from McCormick, figuring this would be easy enough to follow. I picked up black food coloring and some cake boards from the craft store, baked the cakes a few days ahead (I individually wrapped the layers and froze them), and made the frosting in my kitchen a couple days ahead of time, as well, and refrigerated that. To transport it all a couple of hours away to my parents, I just piled the frozen cakes on top of the bowl with the frosting – it pays to pick a bowl with a matching lid the same size as the cakes.

The morning of the party, I thawed the cakes and brought the frosting to room temperature. A warm water bath (nestling the smaller bowl in a larger bowl filled partway with warm water) helped speed up the softening time for the frosting.

And then it was time to get to work!

First, I had to cut a circle within a circle – about an inch (2.5 cm) inside the border, but slightly off center, then cut the outer ring into thirds. I needed the inner circle slightly off center because two of those pieces would form the tail, which is slightly tapered at the end.

Out of the third piece of the ring I cut two triangles for ears and two rectangles to represent paws. Don’t worry – the bit of extra cake didn’t go to waste – I sampled it to make sure it tasted good enough to serve to my family. If the cake had dried out at all, I would have thrown together a quick sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water) to brush on top. Luckily, the cake tasted great. As in, this recipe is my new go-to recipe for vanilla cake.

Not sure if I could fit the entire cake onto a single board, I lined the board with parchment, just in case I needed to slide the work-in-progress from one board to two boards I had taped together.

Then, it was time to start arranging the pieces in the shape of a cat…

and add blobs of frosting to spread for the crumb coat.

My mom left to run errands while I assembled and frosted the cake, just in case I got frustrated and needed to swear like a sailor. What can I say? I try not to swear in front of my mom, and she knows it.

But for the record, I did not utter a single curse word during that time…

and I could have, maybe should have, as spreading frosting over cut cake isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. Those ears did not want to stay put, but a little extra frosting helped seal everything together.

For the eyes I had purchased a tube of green decorator icing very close to the color I wanted for the eyes. I also picked up a tube of black gel icing (the proximity to Halloween meant all stores were sold out of standard black decorator icing), thinking perhaps I could use it for the nose, whiskers, and mouth, but the consistency was simply too runny for detail work.

So, I went back to my remaining black chocolate frosting (I kept a little aside for an emergency such as this), and added a fair amount of black food color to darken it even more. What’s the point of piping on facial features if no one can see them? (Even if my 3 year old niece likely could have done a better job with the piping.)

To try to replicate the shape of my cat’s eyes as closely as possible, I made her pose for me. If you’re familiar with cats, you probably won’t be shocked to learn that she had absolutely no interest in posing any longer than…about half a second.

Can I just blame her for my elementary-looking kitty facial features???

A couple of notes about supplies:

And finally, the cake boards also came from JoAnn.

On Halloween, my cat turned 10 years old. My 3 year old niece thought throwing a birthday party for “the kitty,” as she likes to call Eleanor, was a great idea. Since we had the idea, I’d been trying to figure out how exactly you throw a party for a cat. I mean, the cat can’t exactly eat cake, though she can eat her favorite meat & gravy cat food.

We could still have fun with the cake though, right?

My cat also happens to be black. Perfect for Halloween, no? At first, I wanted to just make a rectangular cake, and trace an image of a cat in the frosting. Then I thought, hmm, maybe I can cut cake in the shape of a cat, and frost it all with black frosting. So I looked for a pattern, which you’ll see in my post for Black Cat Cake.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though. First, I needed a cake recipe to use! Wanting to use as little black food coloring as possible, I decided I would use chocolate frosting, with a little black color added as needed. I’m not really a fan of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting…yellow cake with chocolate frosting is a different story.

After looking through recipes, I decided on this cake and frosting duo. I’ve already made cakes from Sky High, with excellent results, so I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. Turns out I was right. The crumb is tender, the cake incredibly moist. The fudge frosting? Oh. My. God. After frosting the cat cake, I didn’t have any frosting left over, so my mom whipped up some vanilla frosting for the cupcakes.

A big part of the fun of this party was watching my niece decorate, shoving candy corn and sprinkles into the frosting with both hands.

Vanilla Buttermik Cake with Instant Fudge Frosting
adapted from Sky High via Sweetapolita

Print Recipe

for the cake

4 large eggs (room temperature)
2 egg yolks (room temperature)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (296 mL) buttermilk, divided
3 cups (285 grams) cake flour
2 cups (450 grams) granulated sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter (room temperature)

Preheat oven to 350F/177C. (For kitty cake, grease two 9×2 inch round pans then line with parchment rounds. Line a muffin pan with cupcake papers for remaining batter.) For triple layer cake, grease three 8 or 9-by 2 inch round baking pans, then line with parchment rounds. Grease the parchment.

Whisk eggs and yolks in medium bowl. Add vanilla and 1/4 cup (59 mL) buttermilk, whisk. If desired, transfer to large liquid measuring cup for easier pouring.

In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to blend. Add butter and remaining buttermilk. Turn mixer on lowest speed and pulse (turn on and off quickly) to mix the dry ingredients in. Increase speed to medium until fluffy, 2 minutes.

Add the eggs in 3 additions, scraping down bowl each time, and mix only until incorporated. Divide the batter among the pans. A kitchen scale helps ensure the batter is evenly divided.

Bake layers until a tester comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the pan, about 22 minutes for 9 inch layers, 30 minutes for 8 inch layers, 24 minutes for cupcakes. As oven temperatures vary, keep an eye on the cakes and don’t touch the pans until the top is set, else you risk the cakes deflating.

Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn layers out onto wire racks to cool completely. If not frosting immediately, wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. Defrost in fridge. Cupcakes can be frozen in a well-sealed container.

To assemble layer cake, place first layer flat-side-up on serving plate or cake stand. Spread 3/4 cup frosting to the edge of cake, repeating with the next layer. Top with the third layer and use all but 3/4 cup frosting to cover the top and sides. Place reserved frosting in pastry bag fitted with star tip and pipe a border around base of cake and top layer.

To assemble kitty cake, please refer to Kitty Cake post.

Instant Fudge Frosting

6 ounces 85% cacao chocolate, melted and cooled (I used Lindt)*
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (room temperature)
6 tablespoons half and half
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brewed coffee (breakfast leftovers are fine)
*if making Kitty Cake, you may wish to further darken the frosting with black food coloring

equipment: large food processor**, double boiler

Fill bottom of double boiler (I use a small saucepan and a heat-proof glass bowl for my double boiler) with about 1/2 inch (1 cm) of water. Chop chocolate into small pieces and place in top of double boiler. Heat water over medium heat to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Stir chocolate frequently until melted, remove from heat. Cool to room temperature, about 72F/22C.

Fit food processor bowl with S blade. Add confectioners’ sugar, butter, half and half, and vanilla. Pulse to combine, then drizzle in cooled chocolate and process until well blended. If not using immedidately, transfer to bowl, press plastic wrap directly on surface of frosting, and cover bowl with lid. Refrigerate until ready to use, then bring to room temperature and mix briefly on low speed with electric mixer before icing the cake.

**If you don’t have a food processor, beat the butter and sifted confectioners’ sugar in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on low for 1 minute, then increase speed to medium-high for 1 minute. Add half and half, vanilla, and cooled chocolate, then beat on low to combine, then medium-high for 2 minutes.

With tomorrow marking the beginning of fall, it seems appropriate to post something, well, fall-ish. (I’m even drinking caramel apple coffee and burning a cinnamon-scented candle in the spirit of the season.)

I’ve been craving pumpkin bread for awhile now, and even had a can of pumpkin puree stashed away in the pantry from last year. Hey, I learned my lesson last year when I wanted to make pumpkin bars, only to find no grocery store around had any canned pumpkin! There was a pumpkin shortage, which I’ve heard is continuing this year.

So I made my bread, enjoyed the first loaf, and socked away the second loaf in the freezer. I also bought an extra can of pumpkin from a dwindling grocery store supply, just in case.

I have to say, the first loaf did not stick around very long, and I suspect the second won’t either.

Good thing I bought that spare can of pumpkin…

more pumpkin recipes on My Madison Bistro:
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

around the web:
Pumpkin Crunch Cake from One Ordinary Day
Chipper Pumpkin Loaf from My Tasty Treasures
Pumpkin Brioche from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Pumpkin Pie Muffins (Gluten-Free) from Elana’s Pantry
Pumpkin Cheesecake from Brown-Eyed Baker
Pumpkin Recipes from Pinch My Salt
Pumpkin Bread Pudding from smitten kitchen
Pumpkin Mousse from Cook 4 Seasons
Chocolate Pumpkin Mini-Muffins from Bake @ 350
Healthy Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake from Healthy Indulgences
Saffron Pumpkin Macarons from Tartelette
Pumpkin Muffins with Ginger Glaze from Union Street Eats
Spicy Coconut & Pumpkin Soup from Budget Bytes
Pumpkin Flan from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy

One year ago today: Key Lime Cupcakes
Two years ago today: Chocolate and Salted Peanut Butter Macarons

Pumpkin Bread
adapted from Epicurious

Print Recipe

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 15-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 9x5x3 or 8×4.5×3-inch loaf pans with cooking spray (or butter and flour). Stir sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and vanilla, then stir in pumpkin. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Do not overmix.

Divide batter equally between pans. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 55-65 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using a knife, cut around edge of loaves. Turn loaves out onto wire racks and cool completely.

There’s something very satisfying and rewarding about making your own croissants. It’s about knowing you put your own elbow grease into rolling out that cold, butter-filled dough, over and over. That the soreness you feel in your arms and upper back is a direct result of the chocolate-filled pastry you have baking in the oven.

I’m not going to lie. Rolling a pound of cold butter into a small amount of bread dough, without tearing the dough, isn’t as easy as say, making a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

However.

I’ve never thought twice about eating a croissant that was the result of my own work. I figure that’s the way it should be. I think Michael Pollan would be proud. (If you’re unfamiliar with his writings, the big take-away message from In Defense of Food is that you can eat whatever you want, as long as you’re willing to make it yourself. Want French Fries? Fine – cut up the potato, heat the oil, fry them up. Want a chocolate croissant? Fine – get started on the dough!)

I’m the first to admit that my croissants aren’t perfect. This is the second batch I’ve ever made, the first being regular croissants. But. They are still darn tasty, and I have the knowledge that I didn’t resort to buying them.

I tried to get pictures of each step, so I could photo-document the process for you. It’s really not as daunting a project as it may seem, but you do need to start at least a day ahead of time. I find the easiest thing to do is to make the dough on say, a weekend or vacation when you have the time, then freeze each rolled croissant on a baking sheet, and finally transfer the frozen croissants to a sealed plastic bag to store in the freezer. Then, simply remove the croissants you need before bedtime, let them sit overnight on a parchment/silpat lined baking sheet to thaw and rise, then pop them in the oven for breakfast. See? Easy and convenient.

Chocolate Croissants
recipe adapted from Secrets of Baking

Print Recipe

Ingredients

for the croissant dough
8 ounces cold 2% milk
3 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 1 ounce fresh)
2 cups (240 grams) bread flour
1 cup (110 grams) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons (30 grams) granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 pound (115 grams) cold unsalted butter, diced

for the butter block
3/4 pound (345 grams) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour

for chocolate croissants
1 recipe croissant dough (instructions below)
1 egg + 1 egg yolk for egg wash
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Instructions

for the dough

Combine milk and yeast in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook; whisk to combine.

In separate medium bowl, combine flours, sugar, and salt; whisk or stir with a fork to combine. Add butter and work together with your fingers to a fine meal.

Add flour mixture to milk. Turn mixer on low and knead in pulses at first (so as not to end up covered in flour), then on low for 1 minute.

Increase speed to medium and knead until smooth, with a temperature of 70-75*F (21-24*C), about 4-5 minutes. (If dough is dry while mixing, add water 1 teaspoon at a time.) Be careful of overmixing – croissant dough will not have the same elasticity as bread dough.

Transfer dough to floured surface. Cut an X halfway through the dough with a very sharp knife.

This allows for expansion and easier rolling. Cover with plastic wrap and place on baking sheet (I wrap the entire sheet in plastic wrap).

Refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.

for the butter block

Lightly flour a sheet of parchment paper. Add butter and sprinkle with flour.

Whack the cold butter a few times with your rolling pin and shape into a 6 inch (15.25 cm) square, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick.

to laminate the dough

Remove dough from fridge.

Unwrap and place on lightly floured work surface; sprinkle top of dough with flour. With a rolling pin, roll from center to corner, following the X shape. Roll 3 times in one direction, turn 180 degrees, then roll another 3 times. Turn 90 degrees, and repeat rolling pattern, sprinkling dough with flour as needed. Roll into a 12 inch (30.5 cm)square.

Place butter block in center of dough; it should look like a diamond on the square of dough.

Fold each corner of dough over the diamond; pinch and press to seal the edges to conceal the butter.

Sprinkle the work surface and dough lightly with flour. With your rolling pin, tap the top of the dough, working toward you to seal in the butter. Turn 90 degrees and tap again until the dough is 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Roll the dough in an X pattern from center to corner. Always roll the dough away from you, until you have an 8×18 inch (20.25×45.75 cm) rectangle.

Brush off any excess flour with a pastry brush. Measure the dough along the long end into thirds, then fold the right third over the center…

and fold the left third into the center.

This is the first “turn”.

To lock in the turn, place the rolling pin on an unsealed edge of dough and gently press down. Repeat with the two remaining unsealed edges. Roll over the dough in 4 strokes, 2 up, 2 down. Lock in again, then dust off any excess flour. Wrap in plastic, place on baking sheet, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes is up, remove the dough from the fridge. Place it lengthwise on your floured surface (open ends should be to the left and right). With your rolling pin, roll the dough into another rectangle, about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick. Fold the right third to the middle, followed by the left third. That’s the second turn. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes is up, remove the dough from the fridge. Place it lengthwise on your floured surface (open ends should be to the left and right). With your rolling pin, roll the dough into another rectangle, about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick. Fold the right third to the middle, followed by the left third. That’s the final turn.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap; place in the fridge for 5 hours to overnight.

to form croissants

Whisk egg and yolk in small bowl until thoroughly blended.

Remove dough from fridge and remove plastic. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 18×20 inch (45.75 x 50.75 cm) rectangle. (If dough keeps springing back when rolling, let it rest 5 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.)

Using a ruler and pizza cutter or pastry wheel, cut the rectangle into 3 horizontal rectangles, measuring 6×20 inches (15.25 x 50.75 cm). Cut vertical strips every 5 inches (12.75 cm) to make smaller rectangles measuring 6×4 inches (15.25 x 10.15 cm).

Place unwrapped chocolate bar in microwave and nuke it in 5 second intervals (2-3 times should do it) until it’s pliable enough to cut with a sharp knife without splintering the chocolate. Each “baton” should weight about 1/4 ounce. Alternatively, finely chop chocolate.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper/silpat.

With a pastry brush, brush the top edge of each rectangle with egg wash.

Place 2 “batons” or 1/2 ounce chopped chocolate at opposite edges of each rectangle (along the short sides). Roll each croissant up (like a roulade or jellyroll) towards the egg washed end, then place on prepared baking sheet, edge facing down.

Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space between croissants.

If baking immediately, proof at room temperature until doubled in size. If freezing dough, place baking sheet in freezer to individually freeze each croissant; when completely frozen, place all croissants in a sealed plastic bag, return to freezer.

to bake

Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Brush croissants with egg wash. Bake 12 minutes on middle rack, then reduce oven to 350F/175C for an additional 10-12 minutes or until a deep golden brown.

Cool and serve. Store remaining croissants in sealed plastic bag for up to 2 days.

to bake frozen croissant dough

Remove desired number of croissants from freezer the night before baking, right before you go to bed is fine. Place on parchment lined baking sheet to thaw and proof overnight. In the morning, follow baking instructions for fresh croissants.

After taking an unplanned vacation from baking when my oven died, I quickly got over my withdrawal when my new oven was delivered. You already saw the first baked good to emerge from the new oven when I made these chocolate shortcakes. That wasn’t enough, so then I made a super-secret dessert (super-secret because I haven’t shared it with you yet…in due time), which quickly succumbed to the warm temperature and humidity.

It was enough. I had my fix.

Or so I thought.

I blame Martha Stewart. More specifically, one of her many magazines. There it was, sitting next to the grocery checkout, adorned with red, white, and blue iced cookies, all decorated to look like fireworks.

I couldn’t get it out of my head, you see. And with the weather about to go all tropical on me again, if I were to bake cookies, and cover said cookies with royal icing, I had a limited amount of time to accomplish this goal. If I was going to do it, I had to do it NOW.

Out of the fridge came two sticks of butter, over to the store I walked to purchase a bag of confectioners’ sugar, dough was made then chilled, and a counter was cleaned off and thoroughly disinfected to become my workspace. Dough was rolled, cookies baked then cooled.

Then came the real project: icing. It’s not difficult, but egg whites are notoriously temperamental when the moisture content of the air is high. Even though I was tired and hungry for dinner, I had to set that aside to ice the cookies, so the icing could set before the humidity went through the roof.

The thing is, these cookies aren’t difficult to make (or ice), as long as you’re organized. (They are time consuming, however. You don’t want to know what time I finally ate dinner last night.)

I didn’t always know they were easy, though. I shied away from royal icing for years. Years. All because I was intimidated. So, I thought rather than just list the recipes, I’d do a step-by-step of both components: the cookies and the icing. So get ready for a lengthy, picture-filled finish. (That said, it was a challenge to get some of the pictures, holding a camera in one hand while using the other to demonstrate a technique.) Please note, you will still want to print the recipe, but the pictures serve as a guide to each step.

The Cookies
Print recipe

Cut butter into the dry ingredients with 2 knives, a pastry blender, or the paddle attachment on your stand mixer.

Crack the eggs into a small bowl.

Add the sugar and vanilla, then whisk or combine with a fork.

Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture.

Pour the egg mixture into the well.

Mix with the paddle attachment or a wooden spoon until combined. If you use a mixer, you’ll still probably need to use the spoon a little at the end, to get that stubborn flour hanging out at the bottom.

Spoon 1/3 of the dough on a generous size piece of plastic wrap, smack-dab in the middle.

Fold one side of the plastic over.

Spreading the dough out a bit with your hands, then press the plastic together around the edges.

Fold it up to seal, then repeat with the rest of the dough. Into the refrigerator they go for at least an hour, up to 48.

Roll out dough (1/8-1/4 inch thickness) on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350*F for 8-10 minutes. Cool.

The Royal Icing
Print Recipe

Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl.

Combine the meringue powder and water in mixing bowl. Beat with paddle until foamy. Add the corn syrup and extract, mix.

If you don’t want to wear a bunch of white powder, turn the mixer off and add the sifted sugar. Slowly increase the speed until you reach medium-high. Beat until glossy with stiff peaks.

If outlining in white, add some icing to your pastry bag fitted with a small round tip (I use #2 or #5). Use way less than you think you need. I used about 1% of what’s in this bag. Smooth the icing towards the tip, twist the bag above the icing and secure with a twisty tie. Get out a tall glass and pour enough water in to cover the bottom. Place the decorator tip into the water so the icing doesn’t dry out.

Divide your icing into clean containers for each color. Notice my glass of water with the pastry bag in the back?

Get your colors ready…

And mix! Remember, in general, a little of the paste coloring goes a long way. Well, except red. I think I used half the bottle. If you need some of the thick icing for outlining, add it to a prepared decorator bag.

Thin the remaining thick icing with water, a teaspoon at a time, until a ribbon of icing falls back onto itself after 3 seconds. Pour into squeeze bottle and cover the tip with a damp paper towel.

Get organized! Try to have a clean tray or board nearby for decorated cookies, as well as your work area. Make sure the bottles are easily accessible.

If necessary, move things around a bit. Notice my glass with icing has moved? I remembered from experience that it’s more convenient to have it located off to my right. Also, make sure plenty of toothpicks (clean ones!) are available.

My least favorite part: outlining. The first ones are always the worst. Work in batches of 4-6 at a time.

My favorite part: flooding. Just squeeze the thinned icing around the cookies; try to get pretty near the outline without touching it, then move in towards the middle in a swirl.

Use a toothpick to spread the icing a bit to fill in the gaps…

so it looks like this.

To make hearts, place dots on the cookie in the pattern you want the hearts to go in. Here, I plan to make a circle of hearts.

Slowly drag the toothpick through the dots, creating hearts.

To make a “flower firework”, add circles in the desired colors.

With your toothpick, start at the outside and drag it through the circles to the middle, then back out towards the edge. (Sorry for the crazy picture – I had the camera in one hand, the toothpick in the other.)

Continue the toothpick pattern, creating petals.

So it looks like this. Well, minus the part where I hit the edge because the camera slipped. Whoops.

(For the more traditional fireworks pattern that I somehow didn’t get a picture of but resembles a spiderweb, do the colored circles, but run each line from the middle to the edge, pick up the toothpick, go back to the middle, run it to the edge, etc.)

When you’re done, your kitchen might look like this. If necessary, move everything to a safe area (kitty-, child-, significant other-proof area) to dry. Overnight works perfect.

Enjoy your cookies! They’ll keep quite awhile.

Royal Icing recipe adapted from Bake at 350

I’m always on the lookout for new cookie recipes. And while my mom’s soft molasses cookies, and my grandma’s molasses roll-out cookies are still my two favorite cookies to pair with an afternoon cup of coffee, I had been eyeing up Ina’s ginger cookies for a few years.

Since I just happened to have some candied ginger leftover from Christmas, a cool spring day seemed ideal for trying this recipe out. I loved the chewy cookie, but I have to admit, the candied ginger was just too much for me. If you’re a true ginger lover, you’ll probably adore those cookies. Me, I’d consider trying them again without the candied ginger, but I’m more likely to just use my mom’s recipe.

Ultimate Ginger Cookie
adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Print Recipe

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
1 large egg (room temperature)
3 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped
granulated sugar (for rolling the cookies)

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Sift flour, baking soda, spices, and salt into medium bowl.

With an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat brown sugar, oil, and molasses on medium speed for 5 minutes (start on low and work up to medium so sugar doesn’t fly everywhere). Reduce speed to low and add the egg; beat 1 minute. Slowly add dry ingredients, then increase speed to medium for 2 minutes. Add crystallized ginger and mix to combine.

Divide dough into 16 balls. Roll in granulated sugar and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 13 minutes, then remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet. Finish cooling cookies on wire racks.