Gourmet cookies, brownies and goodies!

Creaming the ingredients

2005-05-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

You want to beat your butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Most recipes will tell you to cream your butter and sugar. This helps to incorporate air into the batter, which you need if you want your baking soda and/or baking powder to work. This is important as it keeps your cookies from being heavy and hard to bite into. Another important factor is not to overmix the dough. Once you combine the dry and wet ingredients, mix until just combined and no longer. For more information on creaming ingredients, please feel free to visit my website and email me at www.themadbatter.com

Freeze dough

2005-05-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

"Can I freeze dough for cookies, and if so how do I do it?"--was a question I was asked recently. Yes, you can freeze "some" cookie doughs, not all. Wrap all dough twice when putting it in the freezer to avoid freezer burn and absorption of other odors. You may want to label your cookie dough as to the type and date you froze it as many people to when freezing items. When you are ready to use the cookie dough, let it defrost in the refrigerator. Cookie doughs you can freeze: peanut butter, refrigerator, brownies, chocolate chip, etc... Cookie doughs you do not want to freeze include ginger snaps, nut-based doughs(excluding peanut butter), cake-like cookies and cookies with a very liquid batter. For more information you can go to my website and email me with questions at www.themadbatter.com If you want to freeze baked cookies, go ahead--most cookies will freeze well and when you are ready to eat them, just defrost at room tempature and they are ready to eat.

Rolling dough

2005-05-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

One of thebiggest mistakes individuals make when rolling out cookie dough is to overly-handle the dough. The gluten in the flour after it has been mixed with wet ingredients should not be moved around very much, the more it moves the tougher the dough will become. So to make the best consistency of cookie, you need to handle the dough as little as possible. One way to make sure you do not have to overly handle the dough is to lightly flour the rolling pin and the surface you are rolling , so the dough does not stick to either surface. Pay attention to the recipe if it tells you when you are done mixing ingredients to separate the dough into 4 separate parts then do so, it will cut down on your waste. If you are using the dough for cut out cookies vs. rolling up the cookies cut the cookies as close as possible to each other, that way there will be less scraps to combine to roll the dough again. If you have baking questions, please contact me at www.themadbatter.com and I will be happy to answer them.

Dear Mad Batter

2005-05-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

I recently received an email from Jeanie in Surprise, Arizona. In her email Jeanie explained a situation she was currently involved in with her favorite brownie recipe. It appears Jeanie liked to indulge regularly in baking her favorite brownie recipe and found herself finishing off the pan by herself. It has become a problem for her, because she is not fitting into her loose fitting clothes anymore. She wants to figure out how not to give up her favorite brownies, but at the same time she is wondering if there is a way to make them a bit healthier, with less sugar and fat? My advice was two-fold. One way to go would be to down-size the recipe, so she is not making a full batch at one time. She could make all the batter, but use a much smaller pan to make the brownies. All she would need to do is freeze the rest of the batter. Another option would be to make the brownies into single servings and freeze them accordingly. The other route in looking for a leaner healthier brownie. Try whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose, it will keep the brownies moist when losing the fat. Use 3/4 to 1 cup of unsweeteneed applesauce in place of 1 cup or oil/butter. You can use other fruit purees too, but add in 1/4 cup of the unsweetened applesuace to give it a better texture. Also add 1/4 tsp of baking soda when using appleasuace to your recipe. Be careful when baking, because low fat batter will get done more quickly than full fat brownies. If you have a great fat replacement you like to use while baking, please feel free to write and share what you use at www.themadbatter.com

heavenly sweets

2005-05-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

What is your idea of a heavenly sweet? What sort of flavor puts you over the moon? I love chocolate, and would like to have it every day! I also enjoy tart flavors, a nice citrus such as lemon in baked goods can offset the sweetness of many desserts, taming the flavor a bit and giving it a bittersweet appeal. I like crunch in my chocolate too. I am not a fan of milk chocolate and especially milk chocolate plain. That is definitely something which has never been to much to my liking, unless there is a lot of other flavors going on with the treats such as nuts, nougat, caramel, etc... What is the answer to your "sweet" prayer, when you are in need of a tasty treat? I would love to recieve responses, so please feel free to email me at my website www.themadbatter.com

cookie size

2005-05-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

Many people have different preferences when it comes to cookie size. Some people enjoy a large cookie size when it comes to chocolate chip, oatmeal or even peanut butter. You can count on many people finding satisfaction through a 5 inch diameter cookie with no problem. Sometimes this is not the case. I have seen the newest gimmick in the grocery stores with 100 calorie packages of cookies, so that someone watching their intake of food that is high in sugar will think it is a dietary bargain. Unfortunately, who says you can stop at one package? Some of the cookies I bake are small in size. I figure you wouldn't eat a 5 inch truffle in one sitting, because it is so rich. My roll ups are very rich and are two-bite size. They have been described as beyond a cookie, they are heaven-sent, etc....I agree, but in the beginning I was very concerned about the size of the cookie. I finally through trial and error, through suggestions from customers have decided "less is more" in terms of the cookies and their flavor. If you have comments you would like to add, please contact me through my website at www.themadbatter.com

Today

2005-05-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

A wonderful custom of days gone past was to share baked goods with your neighbors. If you were new to the neighborhood you could be assured you would be presented with a cake or a pie to welcome you to the block. Some communities still have a welcome wagon and bring goods to their new neighbor, along with coupons and items from neighborhood businesses. I think it is a tradition to be done all across the country, positive sentiment would immediately unfold among neighbors as a plate of cookies or a cake is delivered with a welcoming smile. The effort and time it takes to bake for someone you don't know, but are going to introduce yourself to is something to be appreciated. If your community still shares this neighborly custom, please let me know I would love to feature it in my next newsletter at www.themadbatter.com

Cookbooks

2005-05-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

One fune thing to do is collect cookbooks. There are so many available for all sorts of reasons. There are cookbooks to create a meal in 30 minutes, there are cookbooks from all over the world with ingredients you have never heard of and there are also cookbooks which contain items you may never have thought about as the main attraction such as Spam. There are cookbooks for every mood, holiday, party, and occasion. The fun of going to a garage sale or a used book store and finding recipes from days gone by. There are so many recipes out there in so many different cookbooks, no one could probably make every single one in a lifetime. Some of my favorite recipes for quick cooking in the kitchen are the ones put out by companies when I was younger like Bisquick, Pillsbury, etc....they had some interesting dishes. If you would like to share some of your favorite recipes from cookbooks either around the world or from a time in the past, please feel free to share them with me if you would like at www.themadbatter.com

Experienced baker

2005-05-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

Experience in baking is never necessary when approaching your first batch of cookies. Items such as a simple sugar cookie, chocolate chip cookie or oatmeal cookies are easy. When there is no labor to creating the product such as rolling, cutting, having to mix ingredients on the stove top or beat eggs til they peak it makes for a basic process. These cookies are created with separating dry ingredients from ingredients such as butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs in most cases. Then all ingredients are blended together, the cookies are then dropped by the spoonful onto a baking sheet and popped into the oven until they are done. I learned when I was very young to bake and taught my daughters how to bake cookies when they were young. One of my daughters comes by baking as a more natural talent than my other daughter. But, both can be counted on to create a delicious batch of cookies! If you have time and would like to share what the first item you baked was please contact me at www.themadbatter.com

Cookies for every occasion

2005-05-10T14:09:00.000-07:00

I think cookies are the most versatile baked good. There is a cookie for every holiday and a cookie to eat while you walk down the street. Cookies such as chocolate chip cookies are great any day and any time of year. Some cookies are best with coffee, tea or milk others go great with wine. No shortage of accompanying beverages to drink with your favorite cookie. There are cookies which were created in a specific country and are looked to on special occasions as part of the tradition; cookies such a Greek Baklava, French Palmiers, or linzers from Austria to name a few. Amazing what three ingredients flour, sugar and butter, plus sometimes a fourth basic ingredient "eggs" can yield in transforming into so many different varieties of cookies. There is a cookie out there for every palate. If you would like, let me know your favorite traditional cookie from other parts of the world at www.themadbatter.com , just send me an email there and I will put it in my newsletter next month.

Making everyone happy

2005-05-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

Can you bake a recipe and everyone loves it in your household? I have three kids with picky palates, and so that question is not always easy to answer. Most of my cookies they love, some they will not try for various reasons (such as one does not like nuts, another does not like any fruit flavor, another only likes small chunks of chocolate, etc...) and I wonder how many others find that to be the standard operating procedure in their home. It gets better as they get older, they are willing to expirement more and step outside the boundaries of their taste buds. Usually they are pleasantly surprised and find a whole new frontier in sweets that they can now explore. I know I was a lot choosier when it came to foods I would eat when I was younger and as I have gotten older, I find I love trying new things and being pleasantly surprised with the results. If you would like, please share your experiences with me at www.themadbatter.com I may also place them in our monthly newsletter.

Baking

2005-05-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

Nothing smells as good as fresh-baked desserts. Especially cookies. It smells so good they have tried to re-create the scent in items such as a candle or a sachet. It never quite smells the same though. Baking is definitely a labor of love, the mixing of ingredients, the creation of a recipe, the scooping out or rolling the dough out to a perfect shape. When the cookies come out of the oven, I love to see the perfectly baked cookie, the consistency and the color. When I create a new recipe I am like a small child waiting to open gifts on Christmas morning, hoping the newest creation tastes as good baked as it did in my mind when I created the idea. If you have original recipes you have created and experience the same love of baking, please feel free to email me at www.TheMadBatter.com and through my monthly newsletter I can feature you and if you like your recipe too.

Great American Dessert Expo

2005-05-05T06:37:00.000-07:00

As seen on Food Network the Great American Dessert Expo is happening next month in La Vegas. The Mad Batter will be there with samples of cookies for all who drop by our booth. It looks like an enjoyable time for all who attend, with all the great treats for the discerning palate. If you are attending the show, please feel free to email me at my website www.themadbatter.com and let me know. I would love to meet some of the people who respond to my blog and give you samples of our baked goods to try.

recipe for fun

2005-05-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

I have read many articles about baking with your children. It is fun when they are young. When my kids were younger they often joined me in the kitchen for fun. As they get older and have lives outside of the kitchen, maybe even in the room down the hall where the t.v. or computer are they do not always call time in the kitchen fun. They may relate to it as something to do in a hurry so they may get to their activity of choice. One of my kids is a natural in the kitchen, she has always had the knack for baking. Although lately when she offers her help to bake it is usually not for "fun" it is a means to another end. So, she hurries through the process and even though what she creates is not great(as far as looks) it still tastes good and I think with even a teensy amount of effort her end result could be really great! What experiences have you had in the kitchen with your kids? My youngest child has almost no interest in the kitchen if she asks, she is bored about 10 minutes into it and asking when she can go back to the computer or elsewhere. My oldest will cook, but baking....he has no interest. If you are interested in talking about this topic more you can email me at my website www.themadbatter.com and put the subject matter in the title of the email when sending it to me.

Looking for ideas

2005-05-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

I make a cookie it resembles what is known as Rugala, but I call them "roll ups". I have wildly different flavors available, if you go to my website www.themadbatter.com and look at "meet the baked goods" you can see the current selection. I am looking for flavor combinations from anyone who reads this blog. I would love to get some feedback on what you want to taste in a cookie whether it is peanut butter n' chocolate, pralines and cream or pizza....I want to hear it! I can make savory flavors like garlic and basil or parmesan cheese and onions. And yes, when we get in to a more savory frame of mind it does not resemble the cookie in flavor as in "sweet", but it tastes unbelievably good and it looks like its cousin the "roll up" on my site. So, whatever your flavor craving, send it me and I will see what I can do, we'll send it to you and showcase it the website and if it is a winner, we might even name the cookie after you....

First batch

2005-05-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

As a young girl my Mom thought it would be fun to have us take a cooking and baking class together. I was about 7 years old at the time and I remember a few of the items we made. One of the items was a gingerbread house, another was a taco salad and of course two of my favorites were chocolate chip cookies and a concoction of chocolate and cornflakes which was made into the semblance of a cookie. I have searched and searched since that time to try and find the chocolate cornflake mix and have not been able to locate it anywhere. If anyone has an idea, please email me at my website www.themadbatter.com I would be grateful to learn its whereabouts. The chocolate chip cookie has been replicated several times since this class. It has changed its ingredients multiple times, but the first time I made them for sale when I was about 9 years old is the most memorable. I used to sell things on the street corner where I lived. Not only did I have a lemonade stand, I sold candy bars or whatever I thought the kids would buy including popcorn balls and now I wanted to sell chocolate chip cookies. I was so excited and I put all the ingredients together and popped the dough into the oven. The cookies which came out were HUGE and FLAT. My mom looked at them and figured I probably forgot the flour. They still tasted great--a bit sweet but they were good and the kids in the neighborhood agreed, because they bought them all!

Sweets are they the best?

2005-05-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Books, articles, comics and cliches have all been written on the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. It is a well documented statement. What about a woman? Is the way to her heart dinner, flowers and a box of candy? Are women that simple or do women require more? And what about once a woman is in love and the man stops bringing flowers and candy, does it matter? From what I know, most women are not so simply amused with a box of candy, dinner and flowers. Women need more. Maybe a homemade batch of cookies once in awhile? Baked by the man in her life? Or forget the candy and have him bring over the homemade cookies, especially the ones with chocolate in them??!! Sounds good to me. Obviously, not every man is Emeril, but at least the attempt to create something for you with his own hands and a semi-complicated recipe (depending on the cookie) is pretty impressive! Buying a box of candy on the other hand and flowers, how does it compare? If you have any thoughts on this subject matter feel free to go to my website www.themadbatter.com and write me an email with your opinion. I will put it in my next monthly newsletter.

Recipe exchange

2005-04-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

I would like to start a recipe exchange for different cookies and brownies all over the world. The recipes should be tried out and have honest feedback from people who expirement. All recipes are bound to come out different for each person. I think it would be kind of fun to see how different each recipe would turn out. Depending on ovens, kitchen equipment and ingredients makign a huge difference. If you substitute shortening for butter or margarine for shortening---it will make a difference. If you use a different brand of flour it could make a difference, there are so many variables...which is why many times food does not come out of the oven looking like the picture in the cookbook. If you want to start a recipe exchange with me, go to my website www.themadbatter.com and send me an email from there with your recipe enclosed.

Chocolate chip cookies

2005-04-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

Coming up with the perfect chocolate chip cookie is a long term and laborious endeavor. But, it is fun. And of course if you have people around you who love to sample your newest incarnation--all the better! My chocolate chip cookie took about 6 months of refinement, before I found the perfect ingredients, which made my chocolate chip cookie the best! My major concern was the flavor and look of the cookie. The flavor not only had to taste good with the initial bite, but the flavor afterwards needed to carry through so that you want to take the next bite. Everyone has their idea of what makes a good cookie, soe people like a flat chewy cookie, others like a light fluffy cookie and some like a dense, soft in the middle melt in your mouth consistency. My cookie is the latter, it is thick, rich and soft in the middle. Cooked all the way til just lightly golden these cookies are perfect for any occasion. I am getting hungry as I write! I am always curious to hear what others prefer in their chocolate chip cookie, feel free to email me by going to my website at www.themadbatter.com and let me know your favorite type of chocolate chip cookie.

Paws and Claws

2005-04-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

I love taking suggestions for wild and crazy ideas for my cookie theme baskets. The different baskets I know have like "paws and claws" was a suggestion from someone else. The basket consists of melt in your mouth cookies with finely ground pecans, powdered sugar, butter and flour. They are made into a shape resembling fingers. The Paws and Claws basket has items for pedicure and a manicure included with the tasty treats. It seemed like a fun idea for someone who enjoys giving themselves a bit of pampering. Most of my theme baskets center around life situations such as PMS and relationship break-ups to the traditional themes such as birthdays. I, personally find the ones such as Paws and Claws a real hoot! That sort of basket can be given out for any occasion. Any other theme ideas are welcome. Just go to my site www.themadbatter.com and send me an emaill with your idea. I will give you credit on my website for your basket suggestion if the idea is used.

Favorites

2005-04-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

There are so many cookies all over the world.Many countries have cookies which are well known and have been around for centuries. Many of these cookies have spices or ingredients which are native to the place where the recipe originated. I remember the first time I made Rugala or Rugelach several years ago. I had no idea its origins, but thought the picture looked good for the recipe. After making the cookie for several years and creating my own versions of this cookie, I decided to seek out its origins. I found out Rugala or Rugelach is a Jewish pastry, made for centuries and in conjunction with major holidays. Although I started out making the traditional flavor of chocolate and walnuts, I moved into flavors like white chocolate with macadamia nuts, mocha and chocolate flavors and more recently cookies with Heath bar pieces in the dough and throughout the layers. I changed the name of the cookies to Roll Ups, it is more of a universal appeal and describes how these cookies are anything but traditional. To see more of the flavors I offer, you can go to www.themadbatter.com and see the section entitled "meet the baked goods", it gives a description for each baked good I offer.

Cookies in a Basket-do they rate?

2005-04-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

I have done a ton of research into different gift ideas in the edible foods arena. There are gorgeous baskets out there. When I was in sales I used to send my clients food gifts. Whether it was a bag of bagels every week(which quickly became an expectation) or a basket of brownies, muffins, and cookies....the client was always happy to get the baked goods. I decided along the way to start bringing them my homemade cookies. I had tasted some of the cookies from different companies and was not altogether happy with the flavors and textures. Not to say there weren't a couple companies whose goods were welll..."good", it was just the majority had presentation but lacked a connection or pizzazz once you took a bite. So, my clients were happy to receive my cookies and brownies. It became known around the offices(one of my clients was large entertainment company) that I would be bringing my cookies on a regular basis. I heard such wonderful reviews from every sector over the years that it was one of the reasons I started my own business. There is more on my background at my website www.themadbatter.com if you are interested in how I decided to start my own cookie company.

Curious about cookies

2005-04-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

For the serious baker I always wonder how long it took for others to come up with a recipe and refine it til your taste buds agree? I know when it comes to my chocolate chip cookie recipe it took several incarnations for that recipe to get to the point it is now. I love the consistency, look and flavor of the cookie. Many people have complimented me on the cookie and its appeal. It is one of the most ordered items in my business. To see how your favorite chocolate chip cookie compares, you can see my website www.themadbatter.com and the pictures I have posted of my chocolate chip cookies, although a picture does not do it justice as to how great it actually tastes!

Welcome to my gourmet cookies, brownies and goodies blog.

2005-04-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my gourmet cookies, brownies and goodies blog. I want to share with you recipes, party ideas and other great baking tips. I'll share some recipes for gourmet cookies, brownies and other goodies, as well as talk about what is hot in the baked goods industry and what is not. Feel free to tell me what you like and I might share your comments here in my blog. To share your favorites with me please visit my web site at The Mad Batter.com.