With ambitious plans in my heart and frozen dough in my freezer, my holiday baking is well under way!
Also, I must report that the pumpkin pie I baked for my auction winner did not crack.
Once again, I determined doneness by temperature and pulled it right at 175 degrees. I was skeptical because at this point, it seemed underbaked. I wasn’t sure about Southern Living’s advice, “It needs to jiggle like Jell-O, not wiggle like a wave.” But, I decided to trust what was pretty universal advice about taking it out when it looked underdone in the center. By the next morning, it had set up nicely. I think the next time I bake a pumpkin pie, the crust needs a couple more minutes of parbaking to account for the fact that it only took about 40 minutes to bake. But overall, this was a lesson in trusting that carryover cooking will do its thing.
Cookies!
Almost all of the cookies I chose to bake this year are new to me. I was intrigued by some of Sarah Kieffer’s recipes, so I decided to try a couple. Right off the bat, I’ll say that her recipes are a little sweeter than I like my sweets, so I did cut back the sugar a bit, but not by much. If you’re not familiar with Sarah, she is famous for her pan-banging method. I made her Pan-Banging Ginger Molasses Cookies. I haven’t dipped them in the rum glaze yet, but I do intend to before I drop them off at an event, so I’ll report back on the final product. As for the undipped cookies, they were very good. Much bigger than I usually make cookies, but apparently, they need to be big to get the impact from the banging. I didn’t notice until I started scoping the cookies that the recipe only made 10 and I needed more molasses cookies than that, so I ended up also making a batch of Smitten Kitchen’s ginger molasses cookies. It’s from her latest cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers. Almost everything I’ve made from that cookbook is A+ and these cookies are no exception. Also, they’re one bowl, you could do them in the stand mixer, but there is no need. They’re just incredibly easy and delicious. I did make them last year and they were a big hit! I baked a few off to give to our neighbor, and the rest of the dough is in the fridge to be baked later this week.
The other Sarah Kieffer recipe I made are panettone sugar cookies. I really loved these cookies! Once again, I baked a couple and the rest of the dough is in the freezer waiting to be baked. Between the citrus zest, the dried fruit and the orange flavor (I did a combination of Grand Marinier and orange juice), they just tasted festive. I did put a little bit of bread flour in them to get some extra chewiness. I really liked the result, but am a little worried to give them away, as I don’t know if this is a texture most people want/expect from a cookie. These also didn’t spread the way I hoped they would, but since I tinkered with the recipe by cutting back on sugar and adding bread flour, that could be on me.
Finally, I made Smitten Kitchen’s Walnut Brittle Chocolate Chip cookies, also from Keepers. I gave these a taste, of course, and when I got a bite with brittle and chocolate, they had a wonderful complexity, but in order for that to happen in every bite, I think they need more brittle. Also, they needed more salt. I know this is baking heresy, but I think I’m going to go back to baking with salted butter. I have yet to bake anything with salted butter that was too salty, but bake a lot with unsalted butter that tastes a little under salted. This is definitely a make again recipe, but maybe with 1.5x the brittle.
Cookie Problems
I’ve had two main problems with my cookie baking. The first is that my doughs have really looked underhydrated. Some of them have been fine once I scooped them, like the panettone cookies. Others, like Smitten Kitchen’s ginger molasses cookies literally crumbled in my hands when I tried to roll them into balls. I added a couple of tablespoons of butter and it solved the problem, but I’m wondering if it’s just drier this year and my doughs aren’t hydrating as well?
Unlike the underhydrated dough, my cookies not spreading is a perpetual issue. I have read many articles on why cookies might not be spreading and none of the reasons seem plausible for me. I weigh my ingredients, my leavening agents are fresh, I think I’m creaming my butter well. I have made some cookies recently that used oil instead of butter, or a combo of the two, and those spread much better, so maybe need to start replacing a bit of butter with oil? If you have any thoughts on getting cookies to spread well, please share!
I have a couple more cookie recipes I’m planning to make this week, so I’ll report back on those.
Happy Baking!