Holiday cookie-baking isn’t the apron-wrapped, wooden-spoon, kid-on- a-step-stool Norman Rockwell experience Madison Avenue wants you to believe it is.
Far from it. Any dedicated baker — amateur or professional — knows the truth: Cookies are competition.
We say bring it on. This year, don’t bake just for fun. This year, bake to win.
— Tucker Shaw
Gift idea for a new cookie crafter
In their excellent new book, “Cookie Craft,” Valerie Peterson and Janice Fryer explain everything you need to know about baking beautiful cookies, from ingredients and equipment to decorating tips and party ideas. Here’s their cookie-decorating kit gift idea:
4 #2 decorating tips
4 couplers
1 package of disposable pastry bags
4 squeeze bottles
2 cookie slats ( 1/4-inch thick by 24 inches long)
Food coloring gels
Cookie cutters
Powdered egg white
Coloring your own sugar and coconut
If you’ve already invested in food colorings, it’s incredibly easy and inexpensive to make your own colored sugar and coconut.
You can use white household sugar or, for more sparkle, white sanding sugar. Simply place the desired amount of sugar or flaked coconut in a sandwich-sized zip-top bag.
We suggest starting with 2-3 tablespoons; you can always make more. Add a drop or two of the food coloring, then seal the bag and massage it to mix the ingredients. In a couple of minutes, the coloring will evenly saturate the sugar or coconut. If you’re using gel coloring (more vibrant than liquid food coloring), a drop may be all you need. If you’re using liquid food coloring, you may need a bit more. Remember, it’s easy to add more color, but impossible to take it out, so start with less and add as needed. From “Cookie Craft”
Must-haves and substitutions for holiday baking
Here’s a list of items you’ll need on hand for less stressful holiday baking:
FLOUR
Use for baking, dusting bread boards and dipping cookie cutters so they don’t stick to the dough.
Unbleached all-purpose flour is preferred for baking because it has fewer chemicals.
Unbleached pastry flour is lower in protein than all-purpose and makes for tender, delicate cakes, cookies and pie dough. Look for King Arthur brand.
Cake flour is preferred in pound and layer cakes.
Whole wheat flour is heavy and dense, and produces heavy baked goods. You can add just a little whole wheat to baked goods to give them a toasted, nutty flavor. Never use bread flour for baking anything other than bread.
SUGAR
Granulated, superfine (also called baker’s sugar or castor sugar. If you can’t find superfine, whirl some granulated sugar in the food processor for a minute or two) and raw (turbinado, demerara for sprinkling on cakes, cookies). Also, dark brown, light brown and powdered (confectioners’) sugar.
MAPLE SYRUP, HONEY, CORN SYRUP
The darker, grade B maple syrup has a stronger flavor and is preferred for baking.
Use a lighter-colored honey.
Corn syrup comes in light or dark varieties, adds texture to baked goods (pecan pie, for instance) and extends shelf life.
BAKING SODA, BAKING POWDER
Baking powder will lose its leavening ability over time.
To test for freshness, mix 2 teaspoons baking powder with 1 cup hot water. If there’s immediate fizzing, the baking powder is good. If not, toss the container and buy some fresh.
BUTTER, VEGETABLE SHORTENING, OILS
Unsalted butter is preferred for baking. For every tablespoon of salted butter used, subtract 1/2 teaspoon salt from recipe.
Butter can be frozen and thawed as needed.
Vegetable or canola oil is used in some breads, and shortening is recommended for pie crusts (avoid the butter-flavored variety).
Baking spray is recommended for cookie sheets and cake pans.
YEAST
In breads and coffee cakes, do not use instant or rapid-rise yeast at high altitudes, as it is likely to lose its oomph too soon in the rising process.
SALT
In baking, use table salt, not the coarser kosher salt or sea salts, which are better for cooking.
EGGS
Use large eggs in most recipes, unless they say otherwise.
VANILLA
Use the real thing, not imitation vanilla flavoring. If using vanilla beans, the seeds have the most flavor. Use the tip of a sharp knife to scrape the beans. Put the spent pods in the sugar jar for a nice flavor infusion.
SPICES
Have on hand cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and pumpkin pie spice. Visit Savory Spice, 1537 Platte St., 303-477-3322, and 2650 W. Main St., Littleton, 720-283-2232; Colorado Mountain Spice, 309 W. 11th Ave., 303-595-0551; or Penzey’s Spice Co., 7511 Grandview Ave., Arvada, 303-424-2777.
Cream of tartar helps stabilize egg whites and is used to help prevent sugar from crystallizing as it cooks.
CHOCOLATE
Chocolate chips, as well as bittersweet and semisweet bars that contain 50-70 percent chocolate. Also unsweetened chocolate and cocoa (not hot chocolate mix).
NUTS, DRIED FRUITS, RAISINS
Shelled nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts), dried cherries, cranberries, etc., and dark and golden raisins.
PAPER PRODUCTS
Waxed paper for lining cake pans and cookie tins, rolling out pastry and freezing cookies.
Parchment paper for lining cookie sheets for easy cleanup.
Foil and zippered plastic bags for freezing and using as pastry bags for decorating with frosting.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Sometimes a simple substitution will keep you from having to rush back to the store. Here are a few examples.
If you don’t have:
cake flour: Combine 7/8 cup flour and 2 tablespoons cornstarch to equal 1 cup cake flour.
Superfine sugar: Whirl granulated sugar in the blender for a minute or two before measuring.
Brown sugar: Combine 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon molasses to equal 1 cup light brown sugar. Increase molasses to 2 tablespoons to equal 1 cup dark brown sugar.
Powdered sugar: Combine 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in blender and blend for 30 seconds.
Instant yeast: Soak active dry yeast in 105-degree water for 5 minutes.
Unsweetened chocolate: Subtract 2 teaspoons sugar for every 1 1/2 ounces of bittersweet or semisweet.
Baking powder: Combine 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for every teaspoon of baking powder.
Buttermilk: Combine 1 cup of milk (whole or reduced fat) with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Let thicken for 15 minutes.
Whole milk: Combine 3/4 cup skim milk and 1/4 cup half and half for every cup of milk.
Kate Lawson, The Detroit News, and Kristen Browning-Blas
