A few weeks late, but I really liked how they turned out.

For the holidays, I decided to make some cookies and wrap them up nicely for my friends as just a little gift. I tried a few different recipes, including trying to make macarons three separate times, all three times resulting in complete failure :(.

COOKIE! omnomnomnomn

I ended up sticking with the sugar cookies recipe that I wrote about last post, but added a little alcoholic twist to it. The remaining bottle of Baileys I had sitting around in my room seemed perfect for the occasion. I replaced the sugar in the recipe with the Bailey’s which adds some extra liquid to the recipe softening up the cookies (since the original recipe cookies were a little hard). Also, about halfway through the baking, I lightly brushed the cookies with Baileys to give them the extra shine and flavour.

Fresh out of the oven, ready to be glazed.

Baileys Sugar Cookies (Preparation)

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup Bailey’s (plus some extra for glazing)
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Waiting for the cookies to dry after icing.

After the cookies had dried, I placed them in some clear cellophane bags and wrapped it up with some nice fuzzy ribbon. The cookies themselves don’t taste recognizably like Baileys, but add a delicious hint of chocolate to the cookies.

All wrapped up.

Happy New Years!

Christmas is quickly coming up and that means finding presents for everyone! Since I’ve met so many new wonderful friends over the course of this year, I figured I should make a little something for everyone. Since I’ve picked up baking lately, I figured the most appropriate festive gift would be some cookies nicely wrapped up. And who doesn’t like cookies? So over the next week or so, I’ll be looking for a good recipe to use!

I’ve never actually made cookies from scratch before. The last time I remember making cookies is back in elementary school with my mom using instant Pillsbury dough, which I’m sure everyone has done.

First up are some sugar cookies. I used this recipe since it was the only type of cookie that I had all the ingredients for in my house. Also with a lack of a cookie cutter, I just decided to cut them into little bite sized squares. I’ll  have to buy some nice cookie cutters too, before I can make the final products.

Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

I followed the recipe, replacing the butter + salt with salted butter (since it’s the only kind I had at home). Icing the top with a traditional royal icing (salmonella, oh noes!). The cookies themselves came out pretty well, I thought they tasted pretty good, especially since they weren’t too sweet and the salted butter didn’t cause the cookies to taste salty. These cookies also provide a really good blank canvas to get creative with icing and decorating.

Why does all the red icing I make turn pink/salmon coloured?
Perhaps it’s time to invest in some better food colouring!

After baking the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes and seeing how much everyone enjoyed them, I decided to try my hand at some more cupcakes. This time around, something a little bit healthier, carrot cupcakes!

Shortly after coming out of the oven

I used this Carrot Cupcake recipe and also made the Candied Carrot Curls for a garnish.

Dipped in Icing

The recipe was a lot simpler than the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. I personally didn’t really like the recipe, since I prefer my carrot cake light and fluffy. The icing also started to separate after a short time, even when refrigerated which left most of the icing on the bottom of the container I was storing them in, perhaps I added too much orange juice? The icing also left an orange taste in my mouth long after I had finished the cupcake, which wasn’t great :(

In preparation for my cupcakes later tonight, I had a cup of beer left over and decided to make some beer soup. Equipped with a cup of Waterloo Dark, I used this recipe and it turned out great, I just love beer soup.

A while back, one of my classmates made Car Bomb Cupcakes, and when I saw the recipe, I just knew that I had to make it. The cupcakes are made with 3 different types of alcohol: stout for the base, Irish whiskey for the ganache filling and Baileys for the icing. The recipe suggested Guinness, but I used Waterloo Dark instead since it’s one of my favourite beers and since Guinness is not vegetarian. This was my first time baking, so I tried to stick to the recipe as close as possible, only adding food colouring to the icing in an attempt to make it orange for Halloween. It took me about 3.5 hours to make and left me with a huge pile of dishes to clean up and loaded my brain with the smell of sugar and butter (this actually stopped me from eating one immediately after seeing how much butter and sugar I had to put into them). It was completely rewarding though as everyone who tried them ABSOLUTELY loved them.