HOLIDAY RECAP: failures in christmas baking
it is a new decade, and one of my resolutions is to look forward, not back, but before i do allow me to get all 2009 on you one last time.
christmas is hard, you guys. sure it’s magic when you’re a kid, but adult christmas is WORK. if finding out santa doesn’t exist is like learning the wizard of oz is just a tiny man behind a curtain, the discovery that christmas is laborious is the realization that said tiny man is YOU, the magic your responsibility.
last year was my first christmas, and despite my best efforts, looked something like this:
are those not the saddest cookies you’ve ever seen? now imagine 150 of them. they didn’t even taste good! couldn’t you just cry? i did.
this year, i vowed to take christmas by the balls. i hosted the festivities at my place, got a tree, and decided on a menu of banana pudding and cinnamon buns. it’s pretty much all downhill from here.
first, we forgot the jello for the banana pudding and the stores were closed before we could buy some. needless to say, my banana pudding dreams were over before they began. but the real tragedy was the cinnamon buns.
i did everything right. i followed the recipe to a t. it went something like this:
i sliced the buns, placed them in the pan, and not to be conceited, but they were GORGEOUS. just like deb’s! i put them in the oven, started cleaning… and forgot about them. behold, the carnage:
giant FAIL. so effing sad. again.
i ended up going with my smitten kitchen staple, crisp salted oatmeal white chocolate cookies. these are delicious, and more importantly, FAILPROOF:
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
6 ounces good-quality white chocolate bar, chopped (i use LINDT white choc bars)
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt (ideally something like maldon, but i just use kosher salt)
DIRECTIONS
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees, line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. whisk baking soda, baking powder, table salt, and flour together in a bowl, and set aside.
3. beat butter and sugar together in a big bowl until smooth and fluffy.
4. scrape down the bowl with a spatula, add vanilla and egg, beat until incorporated.
5. scrape down the bowl and add the flour mixture gradually, beating until smooth.
6. gradually add oats and chocolate to the mix. stirring gets more difficult the more you add, so i just start using my hands when the going gets tough.
7. divide dough into 24 equal portions, about 2 tablespoons each, and roll into balls with your hands. place the balls on the baking sheets, about 2 1/2 inches apart. press balls down with your fingertips to gently flatten to 3/4 inch thickness.
8. sprinkle a tiny bit of flaky salt on each cookie. DO NOT FORGET THIS STEP, IT’S CLUTCH.
9. bake cookies until golden brown, about 13-16 minutes. rotate sheet mid-baking.
10. FEED TO SANTA:
santa liked his cookies so much he got me a…wait for it…
KITCHENAID!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS A WHOLE NEW GAME, PEOPLE.
happy 2010!
xx
alexandra
