TWD: Grandma's All-Occasion Sugar Cookies

Ok, so this post is WAY late, and I've already missed another TWD assignment for this week.  But, I have an excuse!  Every year my mother-in-law and I get together to bake Christmas cookies.  Well, I had to save this recipe for the day we were to make our cookies!  Plus, I was hoping the stuff I ordered on Fancyflours.com would arrive in time to make the cookies, so I could make cute little snowflake sugar cookies.  But, no such luck.  However, this cookie recipe was so wonderful, I will definitely be making snowflake sugar cookies using Dorie's recipe soon!  Everyone in my family who was over for cookie-making agreed that this recipe was the best sugar cookie recipe!  The pictures are of my little cousin, Ella, after decorating her sugar-cookies.  I used a special cookie-mold pan to make these.  The pan made the cookies come out really thick and chewy-cakey, which was really a delicious texture and flavor!

TWD: Linzer Cookies

This week we made Linzer Cookies for our Tuesdays With Dorie baking endeavor.  They were much simpler than I had anticipated!  They were also very delicious!   It was actually perfect timing, because I had left over hazelnuts from the linzer-based wedding cake I made in the previous post, as well as raspberry preserves left over from that same cake!  I was so happy to not waste anything, for once!  It seems I often have left over ingredients that I forget about and when I do remember them, it is too late!  Not this time!  Thanks TWD!  By the way, if you can't tell, the windows are turkeys.

TWD -- Twofer Thanksgiving Pie

I am definitely late posting all of my blogs this month, but there's a good reason.   There's also a good reason why I didn't put much effort into the presentation of this pie as well as my Daring Baker's challenge this month.  That reason will be posted shortly.  Anyway, I made this pie for Thanksgiving.  We had to tell my grandma not to bring her typical array of pies (pumpkin and pecan) because I was making a pie for my blog.  I think she understood.  This pie is, as the name implies, two for one -- pumpkin and pecan pie combo.  It was really pretty good!  I'm not a big pumpkin or pecan pie person, but I did enjoy this pie.  I made a couple of changes, due to a lack of certain ingredients (also caused by the object in the post that I will soon divulge).  Instead of using dark rum, I used Brandy, and instead of cream I used 1/3 + 1/6 cup of milk and 1/3 + 1/6 cup of butter.  If you're interested in making this recipe, check out Dorie Greenspan's Baking book.

TWD: Kugelhopf

This is my first post as a member of the Tuesdays with Dorie blog.  I made this Kugelhopf to be eaten at our election night party.  I wasn't sure what to expect, as I had never had (nor heard of) Kugelhopf before.  Apparently the name refers to the type of pan that it is traditionally baked in, which resembles a Turk's hat.  I guess I expected more of a cake-like consistency, but this is a bread for sure.  It is somewhat similar to a brioche, but far less eggy (to me).  The recipe called for raisins, which I don't love, so I used Craisins instead.  The bread turned out beautiful, and while time consuming, it was very easy to make.  I think it would make an EXCELLENT base for a bread pudding!  I will have to try that next time I make it.

Check out what the other Tuesdays With Dorie bakers created here.