Fall Cookie Week Finale! Persian Love Whoopie Pies

Cooking!

Yes, Persian Love Whoopie Pies. You know, like Persian Love Cake. Only, in the delightfully American format of the Whoopie Pie (which, really, is basically a cookie and therefore eligible for Fall Cookie Week). For those of you unfamiliar with this delightful cake, Persian Love Cake is a tasty blend of rose, cardamum, saffron, lemon, and pistachio flavors. I have no idea about the history behind it, but it tastes delicious.

The Whoopie Pie is a pleasingly soft cookie sandwich, traditionally chocolate, with a sweet butter cream, traditionally marshmallow in the middle. I decided to use the Whoopie Pie format for my Persian Love flavors because a friend gave me a book a long time ago devoted to exploring the wonders of the Whoopie Pie (exclusively! that is all that is in the cookbook!) and I haven't used it.


Persian Love Whoopie Pie
(makes 15 pies/cookies/whatever)

Beat in a stand mixer, until fluffy:
1 stick butter
3/4 sugar
3/4 brown sugar

Mix in:
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest

In a separate bowl, sift:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom (you can use 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg instead, if need be)



Alternate adding the flour mixture into the mixer with adding:
1 cup buttermilk

as well. Remember, you can make a cup of buttermilk by putting 1 tsp lemon juice in a cup measurement, filling it the rest of the way with milk, and waiting five minutes. Kitchen chemistry! Mix everything until just combined.

Finally, mix in:
3/4 cup ground pistachios

Now take an ice cream scoop or a large spoon and scoop globs of dough on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Try to make them uniform and relatively roundish, as you will need to pair them off to make your sandwiches. Put them in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

While those bake, you can make the cream. As you make already know, I am not a fan of buttercream. Way too sweet. For the filling, I used my standby vanilla cream with a bit of rose water and pink food coloring.


Rosey Saffron Cream Filling
(fills 15 pies)

Pour into the mixing bowl:
1 tbsp vanilla pudding powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups whipping cream

Beat on low for a couple minutes, then scrape the bowl and add:
1 tsp rose water (available in Indian groceries stores)
1 tsp vanilla extract
A good pinch of saffron (if you live near a World Market, it's pretty affordable there)
1-2 drops of red food coloring if needed

Continue to beat until filling begins to stiffen and leave the side of the bowl. When the cookies are done baking,
let them cool for 5 minutes on the pan and fully off the pan before assembling (leave the filling in the fridge during this time). For perfect little puffs of filling, you can use a pastry bag, or you can just spread the filling on with a spatula. Enjoy!

Hilarious pictures of the goofy humans on my bookshelf
rejecting my delicious cookies 

Reading!

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

I know my book reviews have been rather few and far between lately, but unfortunately, school is pretty time-consuming and, since I am now studying teaching rather than studying literature, my readings are a lot drier and a lot less novel-y.

However, I did just finish Margaret Atwood's little novel The Penelopiad, which is Penelope's point of view on the whole clever, adventuring Odysseus story. It took me a little bit to get into the story, probably because I am a huge fan of the Greeks and Trojans and their antics and have therefore read a lot of fiction revolving around that time period, which causes me to find some choices that a lot of authors make rather tired after awhile.

An example: Helen is a self-absorbed, man-killing snob. What else is new? Helen is always a self-absorbed, man-killing snob. Just once, I'd like to read a story that explores Book VI in The Illiad, when she deplores of Paris's cowardice, flirts with Hector, and refers to herself as a "bitch" and "slut" (seriously, in the Fagels translation in my Norton!). Now that would be an interesting character exploration!

Anyway, my irritation with Helen's portrayal aside, I enjoyed The Penelopiad. A big theme (as usual with Ms. Atwood) was gender politics and inequality. She explores Penelope's marriage, her 20 years of waiting and fending off suitors, her reputation as the ideal, patient wife (often compared in the Odyssey with the murderous Clytemnestra, especially by a cranky Agamemnon in the underworld).

Another theme was the subjectivity of history and the impossibility of knowing with certainty the full story. Penelope's narration is not entirely reliable, as she admits, and the chorus of the 12 maids (who are killed by Odysseus for having sex with the suitors) often elaborates on, confused, or outright contradicts Penelope's account. In fact, the maids are probably the most interesting characters, in either of these themes.

In short, don't let a two-dimensional Helen distract you from the unique perspective that is Atwood's Penelopiad.

Fall Cookie Week! Snickerdoodle Croissant Cookies

Our third Fall Cookie Week adventure involves some deliciously soft and cinnamon-y snickerdoodles! This recipe came from an odd little cookie magazine that did fun twists on classic cookies. For their snickerdoodle recipe, they add some cream cheese and have you roll the dough in a croissant shape with pecans (I used walnuts). The result is a deliciously moist, mature-tasting cookie.





Snickerdoodle Croissant Cookies
(Makes 30 cookies)

Beat in a mixer:
6 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter

Add to the mixer and beat until combined:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Beat in:
1 2/3 cup flour

Then, separate the dough into three equal parts and refrigerate for one hour.


Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll out each disc into a 9 inch circle.

Fill a bowl with:
1/3 cup milk

Fill another bowl with:
1/2 chopped and toasted walnuts
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

Use your fingers or a brush to spread the milk and then the nutty spice mix on the top of each disc.







Next, use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut slices to roll into croissants. It's a good idea to dip the knife or cutter in some flour, so the dough doesn't stick. Roll from the thick end of the slice to the point, placing the croissant with the point tucked underneath, so it doesn't come unrolled.









Bake in a 350 degree oven for 14-16 minutes. The tops will still be a bit pale, but the bottoms should be a light brown. Let cool on a rack for 2 minutes and enjoy! You can even dust them with powdered sugar or cinnamon if they stick around long enough.

Fall Cookie Week! Muddy Buddy Cookies

It is Day Two for Fall Cookie Week! Well, actually I guess it is Day Four, but we're busy people and since this is the second day that has actually seen the completion of cookies, we'll go with Day Two.

That's Joe's hand in the background grabbing one.
Because they are DELICIOUS.

In this house, we have a Thing about Chex Muddy Buddies. A love affair, you might say. We have made them in many iterations: Mexican Chocolate style, S'mores bar style, the ole fashioned way. For Cookie Week, I decided I wanted to create a Muddy Buddies Cookie.

The outside, obviously, would have to be chocolate dipped and covered in powdered sugar. But what would the cookie be like? How could I make Chex cereal into a cookie? In the end, I just made peanut butter cookies (any old recipe will do, I happened to use this one because I haven't found a favorite yet) and crumbled a bunch of Chex cereal into the dough. It worked perfectly!



Chex Muddy Buddy Cookies
(makes about 30 cookies)

Follow the recipe above or any peanut butter cookie recipe to prepare the dough.




Crush with your hands:
5-6 handfuls of Chex cereal (I used Apple Cinnamon cause it's the tastiest)

Work the cereal into your dough with a spatula, spoon, or your fingers. be sure to do this step before refrigerating the dough, cause otherwise it will be difficult.













After refrigerating (usually 2 hours or so), form the dough in balls on your cookie sheet and bake according to recipe directions.



Let cookies cool completely before dipping them. I left mine overnight, even. You don't want them soft at all.








Now the dipping!

Pour in a microwave-safe bowl:
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips
1 stick butter

I messed around with the proportions until I got a nice thin consistency. You can always add more butter or more chocolate as needed. Microwave and stir in between rounds until you have warm, thin chocolate.

In another bowl, pour about 2 cups of powdered sugar.

For dipping, I used my left hand to dip the cookies in the chocolate and my right to cover them with powdered sugar. This helped keep things a bit tidier. I'm sure you can figure out a good method for yourself.

I dipped each cookie, then placed it back on the tray and parchment paper to set. I also ate one or two right away :)

Tasty plateful of the finished product!

Look at that tasty little Chex in there!

Fall Cookie Week! Chocolate Caramel Cookies with Sea Salt

Apparently, everyone, it is Fall Cookie Week. That this is even a thing, let alone a thing that is happening THIS VERY WEEK is news to me, but I read it somewhere on Pinterest and I'm running with it!





I'm going to bake 5 different types of cookies this week and tell you about ALL OF THEM, which will presumably be thrilling for us both and delicious for me, at least (and for you, if you choose to make some yourself or if you live in my house or work with my boyfriend). So, on to Fall Cookie Week Recipe #1!

I used these Trader Joe's Caramels - yum

Packing that guy in there!

Chocolate Caramel Cookies 

with Sea Salt

I copied this recipe completely from Two Peas and Their Pod, a cute lil blog with the tastiest of treats. Since I used their recipe exactly, I won't bother retyping it (just click the link above). Instead, I'll post lots of yummy picture to entice you into making them yourself.





You really should, too, because these are really easy (I didn't even get to use my KitchenAid mixer) and unbelievably tasty (as in, I-got-full-before-they-were-done-from-eating-too-much-dough tasty).







Seriously. Do it.

   



Psst! Boyfriend Joe is going to write a guest blog this week about making these crazy delicious fried rice patty teriyaki madness sandwiches! Look forward to it with me!