SOLD OUT: LA Cookie Con Info (and Promo Code)
NOTE: THE ORGANIZERS HAVE SAID THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT.
Have you heard of LA Cookie Con? It’s like a dream come true–a day filled with sweets in LA! There will be samples, exhibitors, contests, celebrity chef/author appearances, pastry decorating classes and more. Plus, a portion of proceeds benefit Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Save the date–January 25, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Pasadena Convention Center. Use promo code NOSHWITHME to receive $3 off any VIP or general admission ticket. This code is only good for the first 25 users, so don’t wait!
See you there!
Sugar Cookie Bars
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I love sugar cookies, but rolling out, cutting dough, and decorating individual cookies can be time consuming and messy. Behold–sugar cookie bars! Since they’re baked in a 9×13 baking dish, all you have to do is press the dough down, bake, and frost. Easy peasy, plus there are no special ingredients so no extra trip the grocery store needed!
These cookies are buttery, soft, and chewy, just how sugar cookies should be. If you’re looking for a quick and delicious sugar cookie, give this recipe a try.
Ingredients
Bars
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened to cool room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon lemon zest (optional)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk or cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkles (optional)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined.
Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Press and/or spread the sugar cookie mixture gently into an even layer into the bottom of the pan.
Bake for 10-13 minutes. The bars shouldn’t have any color around the edges and barely be set in the middle. Let the bars cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting, cream together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth (if the mixture has trouble coming together, add a drop or two of milk). Add in the vanilla and mix. Add the milk or cream and mix until the frosting is light and fluffy. Add food coloring, if desired.
Recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.
Cornflake Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Cookies
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When I was a kid, my mom would often bake Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips cookies with me and my sister. Sometimes we would throw in Rice Krispies or Cornflakes (we were a non-sugared cereal house) to change things up a bit and give the cookies a slightly different texture. To us, that made the cookies even more special.
Well, these cookies take my mom’s Rice Krispies chocolate chip cookies to a whole new level. A ridiculous chewy, sweet, hint of salt, bit of crunch type level. In fact, they taste like an ooey-gooey Rice Krispies Treat and chocolate chip cookie mashup. Seriously. These are the kinds of cookies that will make your coworkers hate you. In a good way.
Cornflake Crunch Ingredients
170 g or 1/2 (12-ounce) box cornflakes (5 cups)
40 g or 1/2 cup milk powder
40 g or 3 tablespoons sugar
4 g or 1 teaspoon kosher salt
130 g or 9 tablespoons melted butter
Cornflake Crunch Preparation
Preheat oven to 275 F.
Pour the cornflakes in a medium bowl and crush them with your hands to one-quarter of their original size. Add the milk powder, sugar, and salt and toss to mix. Add the butter and toss to coat. As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal and creating small clusters.
Spread the clusters on a parchment or Silpat lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly. (Don’t taste it though, because you may not be able to stop eating it.)
Cool the cornflake crunch completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for 1 week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep for 1 month.
Cookie Ingredients
225 g or 16 tablespoons (2 sticks)
250 g or 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
150 g or 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
2 g or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
240 g or 1 1/2 cups flour
2 g or 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1.5 g or 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
5 g or 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 recipe: 270 g or 3 cups Cornflake Crunch
125 g or 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
65 g or 1 1/4 cups mini marshmallows
Cookie Preparation
Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
Still on low speed, paddle in the cornflake crunch and mini chocolate chips just until they’re incorporate, no more than 30 to 45 seconds. Stir in the mini marshmallows just until incorporated.
Using an ice cream or cookie scoop (I used my large OXO cookie scoop), portion out the dough onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1week. Do not bake your cookies from temperature–they will not hold their shape.
Heat the oven to 350 F.
Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment or Silpat lined sheet pans. Bake for 12-14 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread and should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. Leave them in the oven for an additional minute or so if they aren’t and they still seem pale and doughy on the surface.
Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or to an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.
Recipe adapted from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook.
Snickerdoodle Bars
I’m always on the lookout for recipes for those crazy people who claim they don’t like chocolate. (If you’re one of them, I’m sorry, but we can’t be friends.) So I was more than excited when this recipe I was initially skeptical of turned out to be a favorite among chocolate (and non-chocolate) lovers alike.
Imagine a snickerdoodle cookie but cut in squares, chewier, and with a delicious cinnamon sugar crusty top. These bars are perfect for anytime–I originally made them to test out of my coworkers and they were gobbled up in no time, then I made them again for a baby shower and they were a party favorite. If you’re looking for something easy to bring to a BBQ today, make these.
Photos of the process.
Ingredients
2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan; set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla. Beat, scraping the bowl, until thoroughly combined. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined. Give the dough a final stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to make sure the flour is incorporated.
- Spread the dough evenly into the pan (I used my hands then an offset spatula). Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker.
Mini Egg Stuffed Sugar Cookies
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Thanks to Hershey’s, I received my very first ever Easter basket in the mail! For most people, this probably isn’t a big deal, but for me, it was huge! Being Jewish, I don’t celebrate Easter, thus I’ve never had an Easter basket. I happen to love Easter candy, so receiving this basket (that I customized) was incredibly exciting for me. (OK, you can stop the eye rolling now.)
Rather than eat all of the candy myself (what exactly do you do with all of the candy you get at Easter??), I decided to give some away and incorporate the mini Cadbury Creme Eggs into some sort of cookie. A quick Google search led me to some rather strange recipes, but I finally came across this sugar cookie one.
The cookie itself is pretty plain, but combined with the sprinkles or sanding sugar and mini egg in the center, it’s perfectly sweet. I had some issues with the fondant part of the egg melting (resulting in runny eggs, hah), but I have a feeling this could be alleviated by freezing the eggs before wrapping the dough around them. I also made some cookies using Reese’s mini eggs and those stayed completely intact.
Photos of the process.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
1 cup flour
12 pack of mini Cadbury cream eggs, unwrapped and frozen
assorted sprinkles
Preparation
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream butter, vanilla and sugar.
Add salt and flour, mixing until well combined and soft dough is formed (if the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour).
Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and flatten it with your fingers. Place an egg in the center of your dough and gently press the remaining dough around the egg until it’s completely covered. Lightly roll in the palm of your hand to cover smoothly then roll in sprinkles and place on baking sheet.
Repeat until all your eggs have been covered then place in fridge to chill for about 30 minutes. With about 10 minutes left, preheat your oven to 350. Place cookies in oven for about 10-12 minutes; the cookies won’t brown so gently press into one to feel for doneness.
Allow cookies to cool completely.
Yields 12.
Recipe adapted from swEEts by e.
