Favorite Cookie Baking Tools and Equipment

Favorite Cookie Baking Tools and Equipment Baking homemade cookies is a lot more enjoyable when you have the right tools and equipment. Here's a list of items that will help insure cookie baking success.

Baking Pans and Cookie Sheets: Come in a wide variety of styles and materials. Dark metal pans absorb heat and will cause cookies and brownies to brown more quickly. Shiny metal pans reflect heat making them perfect for more delicate baked treats. Air-cushioned sheets provide extra protection from burning but make it difficult to obtain golden brown cookies. Glass pans carry heat more effectively so your oven temperature needs to be adjusted down 25 degrees when using them. I prefer dull, light colored heavy duty aluminum baking pans. Basic pan sizes you'll want in your collection include: 9 X 13-inch 8-inch square 9-inch square 9-inch round Cookie sheets with or without sides. Although many books suggest rimless pans for baking cookies, I have had great success using rimmed half sheet pans. Bowls: Small, medium, and large mixing bowls in glass or stainless steel. Wooden Spoons: Great for stirring brownies batter Measuring Spoons: One or two sets of graduated spoons designed specifically for measuring Measuring Cups: A 2-cup glass or plastic one for liquids that has a spout and a set of dry graduated measuring cups Spatulas: One thin metal spatula for removing cookies from the pan and a couple of plastic spatulas for scraping cookie dough and brownie batter from bowls into baking pans Whisks: One or two medium to large whisks for mixing both dry and wet ingredients Ice Cream Scoops: Small ice cream scoops make easy, speedy work of dropping cookie dough onto pans. They're one of my favorite inexpensive cookie making tools Microplane: A wonderful tool for zesting and grating zest from citrus fruit and chocolate Silicone baking pan liners: Make clean-up a breeze and are available in a wide variety of sizes. With a silicone liner you are able to forgo greasing cookie sheets too. Just be sure to not cut them. Parchment Paper: An indispensable aid for quick and easy baking. Available in both rolls and sheets, I bake all my cookies on parchment lined sheets for the easiest clean-up Wire Racks: For cooing your cookies and brownies Electric Mixer: I love my KitchenAid mixers, both hand-held and standing versions, for making brownies and cookies. If you only bake occasionally or have limited space, start with one or the other. If you bake a lot, you will eventually want both. Food Processor: I am a fan of Cuisinart food processors. They can really speed up the process for many kitchen tasks like chopping, grating, shredding, and pureeing. Get one that has at least a 6-cup capacity. Favorite Cookie Baking Tools and Equipment

Favorite Christmas Cookies 1 - Peanut Butter Thumbprint Kiss Cookies

Favorite Christmas Cookies 1 - Peanut Butter Thumbprint Kiss Cookies Some of the best Christmas cookies are those that we have from our memories. Our family always had an assortment of cookies and candies but a few stood out as my favorites. Now that I am an adult with my own family, I notice that both my brother's family and mine still enjoy the cookies that we had as children. One of everybody's favorites is the Peanut Butter Thumbprint Kiss Cookies. This recipe can be made using jelly in the thumbprint but my family always enjoys the kiss.

Peanut Butter Thumbprint Kiss Cookies Heat oven to 375* and assemble ingredients. You will need: ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup packed brown sugar, ½ cup shortening (or margarine), ½ cup peanut butter, 1 egg, 1& ¼ cup all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, 1/ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt and a bag of Hershey kisses. \First, mix sugars, shortening (butter or margarine), peanut butter and egg. Once it is creamy, start to slowly add the dry mixture of flour baking soda, baking powder and salt, until it is mixed. Then shape dough into 1 inch balls and put them 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Make the thumbprint (press the middle of each cookie with your thumb) and put a Hershey's kiss on each cookie, in the thumbprint. Bake, 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are slightly browned and set, but not too hard. You may need to adjust your baking time as ovens differ. Cool the cookies, on the cookie sheet, for a few minutes then remove them to a cooling rack. I have found that I have less wasted time if I have a duplicate set of cookie sheets so I do not have to wait for the one from the last batch to cool. This will make about 3& ½ dozen cookies that your family will love. This recipe can be doubled if you are part of a Christmas cookie exchange group. To double it, you would need: 1cup granulated sugar; 1cup packed brown sugar, 1cup butter or margarine, 2 eggs, 2 & ½ cup flour, 1 & ½ t. baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt. Doubling the recipe will give you about 7 dozen cookies. Because many people have favorites of their own, it is fun to see if someone in your family or a close friend wants to share their favorite cookies with you by becoming part of a Christmas Cookie Exchange. It is easy to do when you double your recipes. You will be able to share ½ of your baked goods and receive ½ of theirs so you will have different kinds of Christmas cookies. They get to enjoy a bigger variety that way. Many different varieties of chocolate chip cookies can be seen the article, "Favorite Christmas Cookies 2. You can also see other recipes in the article entitled "Cookie Exchange Will Save at Time at Christmas". Favorite Christmas Cookies 1 - Peanut Butter Thumbprint Kiss Cookies