Cornmeal Orange Cookies

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July 2011 has passed and it is time for some free-spirit-blogging again. Would you believe that it is already the 4th edition and by each theme, it is getting challenging and am enjoying it more and more.

For the month of July, it was Lata ji who chose the theme and she had a list of 12 choices and each one of us had to choose a number from 1-12. Each number was associated with a hidden ingredient & an add-on flavor.

I chose No. 10. Want to know what were the other choices. Below is the complete list. Some will make your wonder, some will make you wrack your brains and some were like, just a big WOW. Check out for yourself -

1. Bottle gourd/ Marrow/ Zucchini (Cinnamon/Cardamom flavouring)
2. Tapioca/ Arrowroot starch (Zest of lemon or Orange/Juice)
3. Tomatoes (Vanilla)
4. Barley (Coffee/ fruit)
5. Quinoa (Raisins, fruit juice)
6. Noodles/ Pasta (Dark chocolate)
7. Buckwheat (Cheese/paneer)
8. Sweet peppers (Nuts and dry fruits)
9. Sweet corn (Cream)
10.Corn meal/ Polenta (Coffee/Orange)
11.Black currants/ Pomegranates (Caramel/White Chocolate)
12.Chick peas or mung beans (saffron/ pistachios)

Didn't I say - you will be surprised by some of the combinations ;-). Now, the part of the deal is to make a dessert out the allotted ingredient preferably with the add-on flavors specified on the side. I chose Orange and made some yummy Cornmeal Orange Cookies for the FSB challenge.

You know whats the first thing I got reminded of as soon as I took a whiff of the cookie dough - the little Orange cream biscuits which I used to practically live on, when I was a child. I never knew Orange oil would give such nice fragrance and flavor to the cookies. :-)

Cornmeal Orange Cookies

Adapted from Dorie's recipe of Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies and some inputs from Mads

Ingredients:

* Yellow Cornmeal (fine) - 1.5 cups

* All purpose Flour/Maida - 1/2 cup

* Cornstarch - 1/4 cup

* Butter - 1 cup

* Sugar - 2/3 cup

* Salt - 1/2 tsp

* Orange zest - 2 tsps

* Orange essence/oil - 1/2 tsp

* Vanilla - 2 tsps

Procedure:

Step 1: Sift the flour, cornstarch, cornmeal and salt. Set aside.

Step 2: Working in a bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

Step 3: Cream butter and sugar together with the vanilla, about 3 minutes.

Step 4: Reduce mixer speed to low and tip in the dry ingredient mixture, mixing only until the flour streaks have disappeared into the dough (do not over-mix).

Step 5:  Using a rubber spatula, transfer the dough (which will be soft and sticky) onto a large piece of clingwrap. Wrap neatly and transfer dough to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. 

Step 6:  Towards the end of the refrigeration period, pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Step 7:  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, else grease them. If using non-stick bake-ware, lining or greasing them will not be necessary.

Step 8: Using a cookie scoop or a greased tablespoon, drop the refrigerated cookie dough two-inches apart, on the readied cookie sheet. Don’t worry about the dough being of irregular shapes as you drop it on the cookie sheet. The cookies will even out as they bake due to the fat spreading from the heat.

Step 9:  Lower the temperature to 150°C/300°F and bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes or until they just start to turn golden brown on the edges. They will continue to cook even after you’ve removed them from the oven, so please don’t be fooled to think that they’re under-baked.

Step 10: Remove cookie sheet from the oven and let the cookies sit on the sheet for a couple minutes before you gently move them with a thin spatula to a wire-rack, to cool completely.

Variation: Break the cookie into crumbles and top it with Vanilla Ice cream. It is pure heaven. :-)

Previous FSB challenges:

May 2011 - Mysore Bajji/Mysore Bonda
June 2011 - Vegetarian Rogan Josh

Here is what other FSB members made for the month of July -

DK - Eggless Tapioca Pudding with Chocolate

Mads -  Sweet Corn Panna Cotta

Nags - White Chocolate & Pomegranate Cupcakes

Anu - Yet to post

Lata ji - Apple and strawberry crumble with barley flour

Mittu - Quinoa Raisin Muffins with Lime Curd Whipped Cream Frosting

Deepti - Yet to post

until next time,
Siri

My Baking Ballyhoo: Orange Pecan Cookies

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What would you do if you end up staying in an age-old town house where the fire alarm starts beeping for just about 15 minutes of baking?

Sigh!, now you know the reason why I haven't been doing any serious baking off late. I tried every trick and trade known to make it work but I failed miserably. Once it starts beeping, all you can do is open up all doors and windows and allow the *smoke* to get out. Either the fire alarm is too sensitive or our oven is way too old or I am crazy enough to start a baking attempt every single time with the same gusto.

..Well, this time, I was adamant to bake some cookies before I leave this place and did the unforgivable - "wrapped a plastic bag around the fire alarm, did all the baking I wanted and removed the bag once I am done!". :D :D.

Ok now, enough of my ranting and lets get down to business. Shall we - for some delicious, heavenly, melt-in-mouth Orange-Pecan cookies. Never before this, I loved the flavor of orange zest so much. How in the world, didn't I either make or atleast taste this recipe before.:) I had promised some of my office friends to bake some cookies for them. So, the recipe yileds more than 4 dozen of them depending on their size. Please use your discretion, for appropriate measurements to make lesser number of cookies.

First some cookie notes about varioud types from the baking book -

Type 1. The consistency of drop cookie dough allows it to simply be dropped from a spoon onto a baking sheet, making it the easiest kind of cookies to bake.

Tupe 2. For refrigerator cookies (also known as Icebox cookies), the dough is shaped into logs, wrapped in plastic, then refrigerated until firm enough to slice and bake.

Type 3. Shaped cookies are formed by hand into various shapes (such as balls, logs, crescents etc) or are pressed through a cookie press.

Type 4. Cutout cookies have a firmer dough. To make it easier to handle, the dough may need to be chilled before being rolled out. Then the dough is cut into shapes with a cookie cutter or knife.

Orange Pecan Cookies (from The Taste of Home Baking Book)

Prep Time: 15 mins + chilling
Cook Time: 10-12 mins per batch
Yield: 5-6 dozen

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
1 egg
2 tbsp orange juice (at room temperature)
1 tbsp grated orange peel
2.5 cups all-purpose-flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans


In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and both the sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, orange juice and orange peel.

Combine the flour, baking soda ad salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the pecans.

Shape into rolls. The original recipe states to make two 1.5 inch rolls. But, I made 4 smaller rolls. (into a cylindrical shape), wrap each of them in plastic wrap. Refrigerate fpr 4 hours or overnight. I chilled them for the entire night.

Next morning (or after 4 hours), preheat the oven to 325 degree F. Unwrap dough, cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place them 2 inch apart on a lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 mins, until the edges begin to brown. Have a very close watch on these, for every 3-4 mins as they easily tend to burn. The oven temparatures might vary according to the type of baking pan used. Darker the baking sheet, lesser time it takes to bake. You can also wrap the baking sheet with aluminum foil, grease it and then use. (thats what I did).

Once done, remove onto the wire racks to cool completely.

To Note:

1. Avoid over mixing of the dough. If its handled too much, the cookies will be tough.

2. Let the baking sheets cool before placing the next batch of cookie dough onto them. Otherwise, the heat from the baking sheet will soften the dough and cause it to spread.

3. Use an over thermometer to verify the accuracy of the oven. To check, preheat it to the desired temperature. Place an oven thermometer on the center rack. Close the oven door and leave the oven ON at the set temperature. Keep the thermometer in the oven for 15 minutes, then check. If the thermometer does not agree with the set oven temperature, the oven temp is inaccurate. Adjust the oven temp accordingly.

I have a lot of pantry cleaning to do in the next 10 days, so don't be surprised if you see more of cookie recipes in coming days! How does 'Frozen Lemonade Cookie' sound? :D :D

The theme for this month's Healing Foods is Onion, hosted by Priya. Hop onto her blog for participation details.

until next time,
Siri