Banana Crumb Muffins

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These muffins are amazing. I only did one thing different. I doubled the recipe and yet only used 4 large bananas instead of 6 smaller ones. Turned out great.

Banana Crumb Muffins
Ingredients:
For the muffins:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, melted

For the topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°. Made 28 muffins.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 ½ cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, cinnamon and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Source: Allrecipes

Veggies and Noodles with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce (Our Best Bites)

Aside from the sweet chili sauce, you should be able to find everything else at your average grocery store:

Linguine (be sure to buy the 16-oz. package and not the 12-oz. package), green onions, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, mushrooms, frozen (gasp!) veggies, red bell peppers, curry paste, and coconut milk. I sometimes get a little bewildered at the grocery store when recipes call for curry paste–what kind of curry? Indian? Thai? Green? Red? Powder? Paste? Sauce? Yeah, you get the picture. In this recipe, I used Thai Kitchen red curry paste, although you could totally use their green curry paste, too. It’s inexpensive and super easy to find. Problem solved, right?

Then you just cook the pasta, stir-fry the veggies, whisk together the sauce, and toss it all together! Super quick and easy–30 minutes, tops. If you want to add chicken or shrimp, just pop some on the grill, seasoned however you like them, and then slice the chicken before serving and add it to the noodles. Garnish with a sprinkling of black (or white, if you can’t find black) sesame seeds and a few limes for squeezing over the noodles before eating.

Heaven. In a bowl.

I will say that this recipe makes a ton and I would totally cut it in half except for the fact that I have very few uses for 1/2 of a can of coconut milk. Leftoverville, here we come. However, our reader Debs had a fabulous suggestion to freeze half of the coconut milk, which means you’d use a little more than 3/4 c. of coconut milk.

Veggies and Noodles with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce {aka Kate’s Noodles & Company Bangkok Curry Semi-Knockoff}

Recipe heavily adapted from The Colorado Connection

1 lb. linguine or rice noodles (if using rice noodles, soak in hot water for about 1/2 hour and then drain and rinse)

1 12-oz. package of frozen stir fry vegetables or 6 oz. frozen broccoli and 6 oz. frozen julienned carrots

1/2 c. green onions

1 medium red, orange, or yellow pepper, thinly sliced

1 c. sliced mushrooms

1 Tbsp. fresh, minced ginger

1 Tbsp. fresh, minced garlic

2-3 Tbsp. curry paste

Juice of 1 lime, plus more limes for garnish

2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 can of lite coconut milk

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

4-6 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce (available at Asian markets)

Black sesame seeds for garnish

Cook pasta according to the package directions. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, curry paste, and lime juice. While the pasta is cooking, microwave the frozen vegetables according to the package directions, but only cook them for 1/2 the time–you still want them to be quite crunchy. If you’re using fresh veggies, blanch them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes or until they’re tender-crisp.

In a large non-stick skillet or wok, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the green onions, mushrooms, ginger, and garlic and cook until the mushrooms are tender and the garlic is fragrant. Be sure to continue stirring constantly to prevent the garlic from burning.

Add the sliced red peppers and the half-cooked (formerly frozen) vegetables. Stir fry for about 1 minute and then add the coconut milk mixture and cook until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and add the cooked noodles. Toss to combine and then allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes. Toss again and serve with a sprinkling of black sesame seeds and 2 lime wedges per person (squeeze the lime juice over the noodles before eating). Serves 8 very generously, so if you can find an extra use for the other half of that can of coconut milk, I say go for it…:)

Orange-cranberry Glazed Mini Bundt Cakes (grouprecipes.com)

Ingredients

* Nonstick cooking spray with flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons finely grated orange peel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup (6 oz.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped or 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries.
GLAZE Ingredients:
2 cups white chocolate morsels
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. grated orange peel

Directions

Preheat oven to 350째 F.
Spray two 6-cake mini-Bundt cake pans with nonstick cooking spray with flour.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl.
Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy.
Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in orange peel and vanilla extract.
Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions.
Stir in morsels.
Fold in cranberries.
Spoon into prepared pans, filling 3/4 full.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean and cakes are golden.
Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Invert pans onto wire racks to release cakes. Cool completely.
Drizzle with Glaze.

FOR GLAZE:
Microwave 2 cups (12-ounce package) White Morsels in large, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute;
Stir.
The morsels may retain some of their original shape.
Microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted.
Whisk in 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 teaspoon grated orange peel. (Mixture will initially get firm, but as you keep stirring, it will get smooth. Add more orange juice if needed.)

Jambalaya

2 1/2 c. white rice

5 c. water

2-3 Tbsp. butter

1 green pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

A lot of garlic (probably 5-6 cloves), minced

1/2 lb. high-quality smoked sausage(approximately; you can actually use a little less if you buy, say, a 14-oz. package of sausage)

1/2 lb. ham (you can also substitute leftover fauxtisserie chicken, shrimp, or other shellfish; however, you’ll also need to compensate for the smokey flavor and the salt from the ham, so be prepared with liquid smoke and salt to taste. And you’ll want it to have a distinct smokey flavor.)

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning (you could use another Cajun or Creole seasoning, but this brand is widely accessible and cheap) to taste

Combine rice and water in a medium-large saucepan and cover with lid. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and cook 20 minutes or until rice is cooked. Remove from heat and allow to stand an additional five minutes.

While rice is cooking, finely chop sausage and ham (in your food processor if you have one)

and set aside. Melt butter over medium heat in a very large skillet. When butter is hot and bubbly, add onion, green onions, green pepper, celery and garlic and cook until tender. Add chopped meat and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce and then add cooked rice. Now start seasoning with the Cajun seasoning. It’s hot, I won’t lie, so if you find that it’s getting spicy enough for your taste but it’s still not salty enough, leave the Cajun seasoning alone and just finish seasoning it with Kosher salt. Cook for about 10 more minutes, stirring frequently. Serve and enjoy! And be sure to save some leftovers–it tastes even better the next day!

Breadsticks (Our Best Bites)

1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour

In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl.
Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Remove from bowl and place on a lightly-floured surface. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter.

Roll out each piece of dough into a snake and then drape over your forefinger and twist the dough. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. Try to space them evenly, but it’s okay if they’re close; pulling apart hot bread is one of life’s greatest pleasures!

Cover pan and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes. Look how fat and happy they are…

When there’s about 15 minutes to go, preheat your oven to 425. When done rising, bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Rub some butter on top of the breadsticks (just put a ziploc bag on your hand, grab some softened butter, and have at it) and sprinkle with garlic bread seasoning or the powdery Parmesan cheese in a can and garlic salt.

Or you could sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar. I did that once. It was awesome.

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies (Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen)

While searching for some goodies to bake during the upcoming holidays, I stumbled across this yummy recipe submitted by The Deutsch Girl for Pumpkin Creme Pies, the perfect portable fall treat. I grew up eating Oatmeal Creme Pies, but never enjoyed a pumpkin version. This time of the year, pumpkin anything is good with me, but soft pumpkin cookies filled with a yummy cream cheese filling sounded over-the-top yum!

Now before we get started, don’t let the long list of ingredients and process scare you off from making these tasty pies. The ingredients are basic, most of which you probably have on hand. And the process may seem complicated, but it’s all very simple.

Here, let me show you.

For the pies, you’ll need brown sugar, sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, and baking powder.

You’ll also need canned pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, salt, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves.

(Remember: you can find the full recipe link at the end of the post, with all ingredient measurements and instructions listed. AND it’s printable too!)

The creme filling ingredients are simple: cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon.

Preheat your oven to 350° F.

To make the job a little easier later on, individual parchment paper squares will come in handy. Go ahead and cut out 48 squares about 3″ wide. Line your baking sheet(s) so they’ll be ready when you need them.

For the pumpkin pies, in a mixer bowl add the brown sugar, sugar, oil, and pumpkin.

Beat together well, then add eggs one at a time. Be sure to combine well after each egg is added.

The vanilla goes in next. Mix it all up. Pretty color huh?

Now for the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves. A whisk helps to incorporate the ingredients without compacting them.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet pumpkin mixture.

Mix together until just combined. Be sure not to over mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed. Things should be starting to smell all warm and cozy and mouth-watery good right about now.

Okay, now for the part that may turn some of you off, but don’t go! Stick around. It’s not that difficult. It only looks like a pain. But it’s fun. Promise.

Using a pastry bag or large zipper plastic bag, the pumpkin pies will be piped out onto the parchment squares. It only looks tedious. It goes very quickly, or I would’ve dropped the whole thing and headed for the box of Little Debbies.

This is how I do it; stand the pastry bag (or plastic zip top bag) in a tall sturdy glass, and fold the sides down a bit.

Then fill the bag with a portion of the batter. Roll the sides of the bag back up and twist closed, to keep batter from coming out. Snip about 3/8-1/2″ off the end of the bag. Once the end is clipped, the batter will be ready to flow, so be careful to keep bag tip pinched closed until ready to pipe.

Now, let the piping begin. This is the fun part – the ultimate in kitchen play. Easy stuff y’all.

Begin in the middle of the 3″ square and pipe a spiral. Go around … and around … and around until you make a circle about 2″ wide. You’ll notice in order to make the pies turn out a little mounded, instead of totally flat, I went back and topped the spiral circles with some extra batter. Just a little, not too much.

Bake the pies for about 11 minutes, or until firm.

When they’re done baking, carefully transfer the parchment squares to a cooling rack to let the pies completely cool.

Here’s where I think the parchment helped the most: when the pies are cool, you can peel the parchment off the back of each pie. The pies are a little soft, so trying to lift them with a spatula could mess them up. The parchment paper works like a charm.

Now for the cream cheese filling.

Add the cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl.

Beat together the cream cheese and butter until well incorporated.

Next add the powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and mix well.

***Please note: this filling is the bomb. It just is. It should definitely be kept in your arsenal for other baked goods.

Yum. Yum. Yum.

Enough of that. Moving right along.

But don’t forget that y’all.

Don’t. It’s good stuff.

For realz.

Okay, really. I’m finished now. Now for building the finished product.

Frost the flat side of a pie with the yummy, delicious, make-you-drool filling. Top with another pie, flat side down.

And there you have it. A cute, tasty Pumpkin Creme Pie.

You’ll want to enjoy right away or chill, up to a couple of days, covered on parchment or waxed paper. The pies can be a tad bit sticky so the parchment paper or waxed paper is definitely recommended. These are such a treat and didn’t last long around here. This recipe makes about 24 finished Pumpkin Creme Pies. Mini versions of these would be so cute, wouldn’t they?

Here’s the printable recipe:

• For Creme Pies
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 can Pumpkin (15 Oz.)
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves
• _____
• FOR FILLING:
• 1 package Cream Cheese Softened (8 Oz.)
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
• 1 package Powdered Sugar (16 Oz.)
• 3 drops Vanilla Extract
• 2 dashes Cinnamon

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pumpkin Creme Pies: Beat together brown sugar, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.

Cut 3 inch squares of parchment paper, about 24. Using a pastry bag with a round tip, or a big zip top plastic bag with one corner snipped, squeeze out concentric circles of batter, starting from the middle and working outward until the circles are about 2 inches in diameter. (Note that the squares allow the baker to move the square while keeping the bag in the same spot. Just squeeze for easy circle making!)

Transfer each square to a baking sheet. Bake for 11 minutes, or until firm, and cool on a rack.

Cream Cheese Filling: Beat together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Frost flat side of half the pies and top with another piece.

Enjoy right away, or chill overnight. These keep very nicely in the fridge for at least a few days.

Recipe: Cinnamon rolls

Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

• Dough
• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons total) active dry yeast
• 9 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
• 1 scant teaspoon baking soda
• 1 heaping tablespoon salt
• Filling
• 2 cups melted butter, plus more as needed
• 1/4 cup ground cinnamon for sprinkling
• 2 cups sugar, plus more as needed
• Maple icing
• 2 pounds powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk, more if needed for thinning
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, melted
• 1/4 cup strongly brewed coffee
• Dash of salt
• 1 tablespoon maple flavoring or maple extract

Preparation

This is without a doubt one of my most treasured recipes — something I've been enjoying my entire life, thanks to my mom, who became legendary in our hometown for delivering these disturbingly delicious cinnamon rolls to folks at Christmastime. I became spoiled on these heavenly treats at a very early age, and as a result, no cinnamon roll anywhere has ever measured up.

I find that, generally speaking, cinnamon rolls — especially those bought in bakeries or stores — are way too bready, with way too little gooey topping. These rolls of my mother's are the perfect antidote: they're almost equal parts bread and icing, which is poured liberally over the warm, just-baked rolls. The rolls are perfect eaten immediately or later in the day, after they've been allowed to cool and settle into their almost obscene gooeyness. If you begin making these for your friends and family during the holidays, I promise you this: You'll become famous. And, on a less positive note, people will forget everything else you've ever accomplished in your life. From that moment on, you'll be known — and loved — only for your cinnamon rolls. But don't worry. You'll get used to it!

The dough is very easy to make; you simply scald milk, add oil, sugar, yeast, and the dry ingredients in alternating batches, then allow the dough to rise until you're ready to make the rolls. I've been known to make the dough a couple of days in advance and allow it to stay covered in the fridge. Of course, I sometimes forget to punch it down, which makes for an interesting sight in the morning when I open the fridge to retrieve the orange juice. But that's a story for another time. I often use seven disposable aluminum pie plates so that I can deliver them to friends, but you may also use glass or ceramic pie plates, rectangular baking dishes, or rimmed baking sheets.

For the dough, heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat; do not allow the mixture to boil. Set aside and cool to lukewarm.

Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit on the milk for 1 minute.

Add 8 cups of the flour. Stir until just combined, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a relatively warm place for 1 hour.

Add additional 1 cup flour, along with baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine and use dough immediately or refrigerate, covered, overnight.

To assemble the rolls, remove half the dough from the pan. On a floured baking surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 30 x 10 inches.

To make the filling, pour 1 cup of the melted butter over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers to spread the butter evenly.

Generously sprinkle half of the ground cinnamon and 1 cup of the sugar over the butter. Don't be afraid to drizzle on more butter or more sugar! Because the way I see it, if a little butter and sugar is good, more is better. That's my motto in pretty much all areas of my life.

Now, beginning at the end farthest from you, roll the rectangle tightly toward you. Use both hands and work slowly, being careful to keep the roll tight. Don't worry if the filling oozes as you work; that just means the rolls are going to be divine.

When you reach the end, pinch the seam together. When you're finished, you'll wind up with one long buttery, cinnamony, sugary, gooey log.

Transfer to a cutting board and with a sharp knife, make 1½-inch slices. One log will produce 20 to 25 rolls.

Pour a couple of tablespoons of melted butter into the desired pie pans or baking dishes and swirl to coat.

Place the sliced rolls in the pans, being careful not to overcrowd.

Repeat the rolling/sugar/butter process with the other half of the dough and more pans. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Cover the pans with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise on the countertop for at least 20 minutes before baking. Remove the towel and bake for 13 to 17 minutes, until golden brown. Don't allow the rolls to become overly brown. While the rolls are baking, make the maple icing!

In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, coffee, and salt.

Splash in the maple flavoring.

Whisk until very smooth. Taste and add in more maple, sugar, butter, or other ingredients as needed until the icing reaches the desired consistency. The icing should be thick but still pourable.

When the rolls come out of the oven, notice the gooey filling inside. Mmmm. At this point, your kitchen is by far the best smelling place on earth. You could sell tickets.

While the rolls are still warm, generously drizzle icing over the top. Be sure to get it all around the edges and over the top.

As they sit, the rolls will absorb some of the icing's moisture and flavor. They only get better with time ... not that they last for more than a few seconds! Make them for a friend today! It'll seal the relationship for life. I promise.

Tips

Cinnamon rolls can be frozen in the pan, unbaked. Just cover them tightly with foil after you place them in the pan but before they rise. Then, when you're ready to bake, allow them to thaw and rise before baking. Ice as directed. An easier method is simply to freeze the baked, iced cinnamon rolls after they've cooled slightly. Then just pull them out of the freezer and warm them in a 250º F oven for 15 minutes. I stock up my freezer with cinnamon rolls before the holidays begin, and I'm always so glad I do.

Variations

Add finely chopped pecans to the rolls after sprinkling on the cinnamon and sugar.

Substitute 8 tablespoons of orange marmalade and 1 cup brown sugar (per half batch of dough) for the cinnamon and white sugar, then substitute orange juice for the maple and coffee in the icing.

Serving Size

40 to 50 cinnamon rolls

Royal Icing
(This will cover 2-3 dozen 3.5 inch cookies in 2 colors; I usually double this recipe.)

4 TBSP meringue powder
scant 1/2 c. water
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp light corn syrup
few drops clear extract (optional)



Combine the meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy.



Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!)


Add in the corn syrup and extract if desired. ( I think the corn syrup helps keep the icing shiny.)

Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form.


(You should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold up and jiggle without the peak falling.) Do not overbeat.

Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing or divide and color using gel paste food colorings.

This "stiff" icing is perfect for outlining and even for building gingerbread houses and monogramming. To fill in your cookies, add water to your icing a teaspoon at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula, until it is the consistency of syrup. This technique of filling a cookie with thinned icing is called "flooding."

Here are some f.a.q.'s regarding royal icing:
{Be sure to check last week's post with cookie f.a.q.'s...I will be updating that post periodically...and check back for next week's troubleshooting post.}

Do you ever add anything to your royal icing to improve the taste (lemon juice, almond extract....?).

Yes, I typically use a few drops of pure almond extract when I am making my vanilla-almond-sugar cookies. Just keep in mind that any colored extract, such as vanilla, will tint the icing.

What is a "scant" cup?

It's a measuring cup not filled all the way up to the top. Take a look at the picture above....I took it just for you!

Why does my piped icing...you know...the outline...or maybe just some piping done on gingerbread men...well...why does it dry up and just fall off in little bits.

I think this is from overbeating. It's happened to me, too. Try to beat it until it's glossy and just coming to a stiff peak. Also, use the paddle attachment of your mixer. (This is a really common question...I'll put it in the troubleshooting post as well.)

How do you know the perfect consistency for icing when flooding?

Once your colors are mixed, add water a teaspoon at a time to thin it for flooding. Stir the water in with a rubber spatula, rather than beating it. Hold your rubber spatula over the bowl and let some icing fall back into the bowl. The ribbon of icing should disappear into the rest of the icing in about 2-3 seconds, counting "one-one thousand, two-one thousand."

When decorating wet on wet, how do you do it so the colors don't bleed into one another?

I typically work about 6-8 cookies at a time. I flood all the cookies in the base coat, then go back and add the dots. This gives them a minute or so to rest. It seems to stop the bleeding. Sometimes, it still happens and that's when I have to remind myself not to stress and that it's "just a cookie." (Sometimes a glass of wine helps.)

How exactly do you mix your icing colors when you need several colors and piping and flood?

I divide my icing into how many colors I'll need, whether it's for piping or flooding. (IE...if I need red for outlining and flooding, I make one big container of red.) Then, I tint them with food coloring. If I need a color for both piping and flooding, I go ahead and fill a piping bag before adding the water for flooding.

My fear (one of them) when making cookies is that I'll forget to make icing in a color I need. I'll be halfway into decorating, only to realize...PINK, I NEEDED PINK!

To prevent that...here's the system that works for me...


First, I make a list of the cookies I'm making and what colors I'll need for each. Each color is marked "O" for outline or "F" for fill. (This night I was making 24 mustaches, 8 spiderwebs and 22 coffins.)


{If it's a new design, I'll sketch out the cookie first, labeling each area with a color. Like this.}



Now, I simply cut the list and place each strip in a bowl. (Big bowls for large amounts of icing, smaller for smaller...I guess that kinda goes without saying.) :)


Next, I make my royal icing. There...perfect.



I divide it first, covering each bowl with plastic wrap, pressing down into the icing to prevent drying and cracking. (Here, I knew I needed lots of black for outlining and filling. I divided all the icing for the other colors into bowls, then mixed the black into the remaining icing. This I put in two separate containers because I knew I needed a lot. Since I tinted it all in the big bowl, it was all the same shade. Does that make sense?)


Finally, the tinting is finished (I use AmeriColor Food Coloring which is available in bakery supply stores, online and brick & mortar, and also in my Amazon Shop.)

From here, the icing is ready to use or refrigerate for later.

AND, I haven't forgotten a color! Yay!

If you make your icing ahead of time, do you separate into flood and piping then or wait until it's time to decorate?

I wait until it's time to decorate.

How do you get your writing to look so even and not slanted?

Practice....lots and lots of practice! And sometimes, it's still crooked! ;) Try practicing on a plate or a piece of wax paper before trying it on your cookies.

Do you have any suggestions for folks like me with not a lot of room to spread out the cookies to dry?

Try stacking your cookie sheets with the drying cookies on top of each other...like some horizontally and some on top vertically allowing some space for air circulation. Does that make sense? The sides of the cookie sheets will support the second layer. You may have to add some drying time here. I've been known to have cookie sheets on every flat surface of my house, including the guest room bed!

I've always wondered...if the cookie is left out overnight, won't it get stale?

Nope, the royal icing needs that overnight time to dry thoroughly and the icing kind of "seals" the cookie from getting stale.

Does royal icing taste as good as cream cheese frosting?

Nope...not in a million years. Cream cheese icing I would eat with a spoon, royal icing not so much. It can taste good, especially if you use Williams-Sonoma, Ateco or AmeriColor meringue powder, but it will never compare to frosting. Make sure you use a sugar cookie recipe that you like. The cookie is the real star here.

Where can I buy meringue powder?

Meringue powder can be found in craft stores and even in the WalMart craft section. The brands that I recommend are normally only found in baking supply stores or online. I recommend Williams-Sonoma, Ateco and AmeriColor. These 3 are vastly superior to the craft store brand in taste and performance.

How do you get the same color, when you made less icing than you needed?

I always try to make more than I need to avoid that problem....otherwise, I really just cross my fingers.

When you make your icing beforehand, do you refrigerate it or leave it out?

Refrigerate it.

How long can you keep royal icing in the fridge before you need to toss it?

I've heard up to one week, but I am never that organized to have it made that early.

In what type of container do you store it (pastry bags or Tupperware or ??)

I put it in Tupperware type containers with plastic wrap pressed down onto the icing to keep it from drying, then with the lid on top of that.

I've always wanted to ask - "the consistency of syrup" - do you mean cheap syrup or real maple syrup? Seriously, I have both and they are so different. Stop laughing at me. I have consistency issues. Stop laughing!

I love this question, Brigid! The consistency of the good stuff. :) (See the question a few above on consistency.)

How do you know for sure when the frosting is dry enough to put more raised-style frosting on top?

I usually wait at least an hour.

How do I make red icing?

AmeriColor Super Red food coloring!!!

Red icing is probably the most difficult to make. It looks too pink, too orange, or too dark. I've fallen in love with AmeriColor's Super Red gel paste coloring. It doesn't take as much to get a nice red and doesn't have the off-taste like some others (Wilton, at least to me).

All icing will darken over time and while drying, but it is especially true with red. Try to make your red icing at least a day in advance, cover with plastic wrap, pressing down onto the icing, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using and just give it a stir.

When making red, aim for a little lighter than you'd like on your final product. Believe it or not, the icing above turned into a perfect, bright red on my cookies. If the icing is a true, deep red before it goes on the cookies, it can turn extremely dark once dry...close to black. (If your icing is too dark or looks perfectly red before putting it on your cookies, stir in some white icing.)

Red icing can also change in high humidity. If it's humid and you notice your cookies getting splotchy once dried, don't panic. The icing will eventually even out in color.

How do I make black icing?

AmeriColor Super Black food coloring (noticing a trend?).

Enter my SECRET WEAPON....AmeriColor Super Black soft gel paste food coloring.

This stuff works miracles and it works for me!!! You really don't need a lot to get a true black (that doesn't taste funny).

It is available through my Amazon Shop, by clicking here or "recommends" at the top of the blog.

{Yes, I do make a few pennies from each purchase and I promise that will go straight to my "sugar fund" to bring more goodies to the blog.} ;)

Hints:

• When tinting dark colors like black, the colors will darken over time. Try making and tinting your icing the night before.
• Aim for a charcoal color...or the color of a pencil lead when making black. The final result will be black, but less likely to bleed into other colors.