Frozen Cookie Dough

Baking and eating cookies is one of my favorite things to do. There is nothing better than a fresh from the oven cookie. When I make the time to bake cookies I find that my recipe makes more dough than I intended. I don't like to make all of the dough because my husband and I can't eat them fast enough before they go stale. Sometimes I'll bake all the cookies and freeze half the batch. But even a precooked thawed cookie isn't as good as a fresh one from the oven.
Maybe some of you have also been in this predicament. Well I found a solution to my problem with an idea given to me by my friend Kenzie Gray.

Kenzie was a personal assistant to a lady who had Kenzie essentially be the mom. She would cook dinner, do the grocery shopping and even some finances. Because Kenzie didn't work on the weekends the lady still wanted fresh baked cookies to have on hand. So Kenzie would freeze cookie dough balls and when this family wanted cookies they'd take out the desired amount and bake fresh cookies.

I though this was such a clever idea I had to try it and share it with you. So here is how to have delicious fresh from the oven cookies at your disposal.

Here is what do to:
First - Make your favorite cookie dough. I like chocolate chip. Once you have your dough separate it into individual balls with a cookie scoop. I have a small scoop which yields about 6 dozen cookies.
Second - Place all the balls on a cookie tray. Make sure the tray can fit into your freezer. You can pack the cookie sheet full because the cookies are not going to expand. I also lined my cookie tray with wax paper so they didn't stick.

Third - place your tray of cookie dough balls in the freezer and leave there for a good hour to harden.
Once they're frozen transfer the balls into a freezer bag and place the bag back in the freezer to use at a later time.

When you want some home made cookies take out the amount of balls you want and let them thaw on a cookie sheet, bake and enjoy some fresh warm cookies!

*Baking Tip: Because the dough is in a ball you want it to unthaw a little if not all the way so it will bake evenly. You can also try baking your cookies at a lower temperature. For example, mine bake at 375 so I would bake my partially thawed cookies at 350. *


You could also freeze your dough in a long cylinder shape and cut slices to desired size for cookies, but I find this way more convenient. Also having the dough already in individual balls makes for a fun easy treat. ;-)

Let me know how this idea works out for you or if you've already heard/though up this idea on your own.

Monkey Bread Cupcakes

Ever get a craving for something with cinnamon and sugar? But you don't want to spend the time with cinnamon rolls and cinnamon sugar toast just won't satisfy.
Never fear here is a quick fix for that cinnamon craving. Monkey bread cupcakes!

I have always made monkey bread in a bunt pan but with just me and my husband at home we don't eat it as fast. So for smaller portions I decided to make it in a cupcake pan. I like the individual cupcakes because it can help with portion control so you don't get carried away cutting yourself a big slice that you'll regret later.

What you'll need:
4 cans of pre-made biscuits

1 gallon resealable bag
1 cup white sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup packed brown sugar

Directions:

0. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
1. Combine white sugar and cinnamon in the resealable gallon bag and shake to mix.
2. Line your cupcake pan with paper liners or spray with a nonstick spray.

3. Open one of the cans of biscuits and proceed to cut each biscuit into quarters with kitchen shears.

4. Place all of the biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mixture. Seal the bag and shake to insure all pieces get coated.

5. Take the pieces out of the bag and place them in the cupcake pan. Be sure to fill each cup to the top, you could even put in more if you desire, they don't rise very much.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all the biscuit dough is used up and your cupcake pan is full. Between each can of biscuits add 1 tsp of cinnamon to the bag.

7. In a pan melt the butter and brown sugar and bring to a boil stirring constantly. 

8. Once boiling remove from heat and spoon the sugar syrup over the dough pieces in each cupcake cup. Disperse it evenly and be sure to use it all.

9. Cook your monkey bread cupcakes for 10-15 minutes or when a piece of dough poked with a tooth pick reveals fully cooked dough. Watch to make sure they don't burn.

10. Once you remove them from the oven let them sit for a few minutes to cool and congeal. If you didn't use cupcake paper liners be sure to wait so they keep their shape but don't wait too long in case the sugar syrup wants to stick to the pan.

11. Other than waiting a couple minutes serve right away and enjoy a delicious cinnamon sugar treat! If you want a more cinnamon roll taste to it simply drizzle a cream cheese frosting over the top or a simple sugar glaze.

This is a great treat to make with kids. They will have a blast shaking the bag with the dough pieces and of course having their own personal monkey bread cupcake to eat.

Post your comments about this recipe, things that worked or didn't work for you, and let me know how this treat satisfied your sweet tooth craving.

Cute Cookie Bags

At the last minute you decide to take cookies to a friends house or to give as a gesture of appreciation.
You bake the cookies and decorate them just how you pictured but then you discover you don't have a paper plate or even a nice clear gift bag to put them in.
Never fear the Ziplock bag is here!

I found myself in this predicament just the other day and hated the idea of giving my cookies away in a lame plastic bag.
I remembered I had some gift ribbon and hatched a plan.

I placed my cookies 5 high in the plastic sandwich bag and left the zipper undone. Then I gathered the top to tie a ribbon. When I started to gather the top of the bag the zipper started to twist and curl into a cute pattern. I tied the top with a ribbon and curled it.

Ta-Dah! My cheap plastic sandwich bag was now as cute as could be.

I was very proud of myself and had to share this with you. Also if you don't like the corners of the bag sticking out you can always tuck them under the bottom of the bag securing it with some clear tape.

Moral of the story: Don't be afraid to put something in a plastic bag if that is all you have.

Royal Icing and Young Women Cakes

Welcome back to The Daisy Cake! I would like to say sorry for being away on such a long absence. I hope you all still enjoy my posts and continue following my progress on baking fun new creations. With introductions out of the way I have fun news.

I got my first gig!

I made four cakes for the young women in my ward in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each cake was a different flavor and on the top I put the name and symbol for each class in the young women.

The first cake was trimmed with yellow and topped with a beehive symbol for the Beehive class. This cake was pumpkin spice. This was my only cake not made from scratch. I used a Krusteaz bread mix. I used a basket weave tip (#48) and just did a single strip for the border.

The second cake was trimmed in pink and topped with a rose symbol for the Mia Maid class. This was a devil's food cake. I used a large star tip (#21) making rosettes for the border.

The third cake was trimmed with green and topped with a laurel wreath to represent the Laurel class. This was a white cake. I used a leaf tip (#352) for the border.

The fourth cake was tripped with a white frosting and topped with the theme of the young women. This is a chocolate fudge cake. I used a round tip (#9 or #10) with a bead border.

On the top of each cake I decided to make a sugar tile design. These are very simple to make and they last a long time if one of your guests wants to take one home.

Each tile is made out of fondant and left to harden. Once the tiles were hard I made a small batch of royal icing and pipped it on. Royal icing is usually used on gingerbread houses becuase it gets hard and keeps it's form. You can make royal icing from scratch or with a mix. Here are two recipes for royal icing.

Homemade Royal Icing:

3 egg whites at room temperature
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 lb. powdered sugar

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high for 7 to 8 minutes until egg whites are stiff.
Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until combined and smooth.
While using it keep a wet cloth over top of the bowl.

Wilton Royal Icing:
This is WIlton's recipe but I'm sure it can be used with any meringue powder mix you find.

6 Tablespoons water
3 level Tablespoons of meringue powder
4 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat the water and meringue powder together till it starts to foam.
Gradually add your sifted powdered sugar and beat until icing forms peaks. I sift the sugar into the bowl as I run the mixer.

Having a meringue powder on hand makes your royal icing easy and safe so you're not using raw eggs. But using egg whites is still a great way to make royal icing if you know you won't use a whole can of meringue powder.

Feel free to leave comments about your experiences with royal icing and sugar decorations!

Cream Cheese, Cheese Ball

Around the holidays it is always fun to buy a cheese ball. For your New Years Eve party why not make your own!
    This is a simple and delicious recipe given to me by my mother-in-law that she got from her mother.
Cheese balls are a delicious snack for any occasion so I hope you will enjoy this scrumptious recipe!

What you'll need:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 to 5 ounces Bleu or Roquefort cheese
2 8 ounce packages of cream cheese (leave on counter for a little while to soften)
1/8 tsp garlic salt (or garlic powder and salt)
1 T finely chopped green pepper
1 T chopped pimiento

Step 1 -
    Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread your chopped walnuts in a shallow pan and toast in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. You can stir the nuts occasionally to get them evenly toasted.

Step 2 -
    Blend your cheeses together until creamy. I like to use a hand mixer but you can also stir by hand. Then mix in your pimiento, green pepper and garlic salt. (I am not a very big fan of garlic salt so I used half garlic powder and half regular table salt.)

Step 3 -
    Place your mixture in the fridge and let it sit for a good 2 hours until it is firm.

Step 4 -
    After your cheese ball mixture is firm shape it into balls. You can make 1 large ball, 2 medium, 3 small or a cheese log instead. Roll your ball or log in your toasted walnuts and chill in the refrigerator till serving time.

    You can also make some holly to garnish the top with green pepper as the leaves and pimientos as the berries.

Serve with your favorite crackers or even use as a spread on croissant sandwiches.
Cheese balls are so delicious and are an easy treat at any party!

Happy New Year!

Easy Fudge

Who says fudge is just for the holidays? Here is a fudge recipe that will taste great no matter if you make it in December or July. This is also an easy fudge recipe, no candy thermometer required, so roll up your sleeves and let's start!

What you'll need:
4 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter
11 oz mini marshmallows
4 Hershey's milk chocolate candy bars
1 16oz bag semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
Desired topping: nuts or candy canes

Preparation step:
    If you want nuts or crushed candy canes in your fudge chop all of this beforehand. You won't have time during the cooking process to stop and chop nuts so do this first!
    Also prepare either a 9x13 inch casserole dish lined with wax paper on the bottom and sides, or a cookie sheet lined with wax paper so you'll have a place to pour your fudge out when you're done.

Step 1 -
   In a pot, no smaller than 3 quarts, put your sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Stir together and cook to a boil while stirring constantly with a heat resistant spoon or spatula.
   Let it boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Put a timer on, you don't want to burn your fudge.

Step 2 -
    After it boils for 10 minutes turn the burner to low and add your vanilla, chocolate bars, marshmallows and chocolate chips. Stir until melted.

Step 4 -
    Take the fudge off the heat and stir in half of your desired topping such as chopped nuts or crushed candy canes.

Step 5 -
    Poor your fudge either into a 9x13 casserole dish or onto a cookie sheet. I like the cookie sheet because the fudge cools faster and isn't as thick so you get more pieces.
     You could also lay out wax paper on your counter top instead of in a cookie sheet. But if you don't have a lot of counter space a cookie sheet or glass dish is better.
    Once your fudge is all poured out you can cover the top with the other half of your toppings!

    If you want your fudge to cool faster you can put it in the fridge, other wise let it sit till it hardens.
    Once it hardens cut it into pieces of your desired size.

I hope you love this simple recipe as much as I do!

Have a Happy New year and may all your cooking be right. ;-)

Christmas cupcakes

Here are some cute designs to stick on your cupcakes or cookies this holiday season.

First you'll want to frost your cupcake or cookie with a nice basic color. I chose white. You can make it easier by piping a swirl and the spreading it out. You want your basic color in a piping bag anyway, so it comes in handy.

Christmas tree:
Pipe a frosting cone on your cupcake. For this you start with your round tip almost touching the cupcake. I used a #10 tip, you want a big tip, nothing below #7.

Then squeeze out frosting and slowly raise your tip away from the cupcake. You want the tip of the tip to stay in the frosting cone your making while piping.

Be sure to gradually make your cone smaller as you move up until you reach your desired height. End it with a point.

Next you'll want to put green frosting in a piping bag with a star tip. You can use a #24 or #27 tip. (You can also use a leaf tip if you like that look better but I think the star tip makes it look more like a pine tree.)

To make the bows of your pine tree just start squeezing with the star tip at the base of your frosting cone and pull out making it as long as you desire. Then as you work your way up the frosting cone make your tree limbs shorter.

Then you can decorate your tree any way you want with round sprinkles, piping dots, or piping garlands.

Wreath:
Use a star tip and you could either pipe a squished shell boarder or make a continuous squiggly line. Then finish it off with a bow.

These look festive are super fun to make and are even more fun to eat!
Have a Merry Christmas!