Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Lemon Dimples


A few weeks ago, my friend Travis invited me to a shrimp boil. When I volunteered to bring something, he suggested I bring a dessert. Usually, I am a huge fan of anything chocolate or something that involves a TON of icing. However, I decided on lemon cookies, since it would be a hot day and I didn’t want anything to melt! These cookies were light and refreshing, perfect for a hot day. I assume they were well liked, because I didn’t have any left to take home!

Lemon Dimples (found in Women's Day magazine)

INGREDIENTS

1 1⁄2 sticks (3⁄4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1⁄2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting

1⁄4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 scant cup prepared lemon curd

PREPARATION

1. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in egg, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla. On low speed, beat in baking powder, then flour, until incorporated. Cover; chill dough 1 hour. Place lemon curd into a small ziptop food-storage bag; seal bag.

2. Heat oven to 350°F. You’ll need baking sheets lined with nonstick foil, liners or parchment. Shape scant tablespoonsful of dough into balls; place 2 in. apart on prepared sheets. With index finger, make a deep indentation in center of each. Snip a tiny corner of ziptop bag and pipe lemon curd into dough indentations to fill completely (about 1 tsp per cookie).

3. Bake 15 minutes or until cookie edges just begin to lightly brown. Cool completely on baking sheet on wire rack. Dust cookie edges with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Cupcakes





These cupcakes were too cute not to post! Around 10:00pm the other night, I decided it would be awful of me to not bring cupcakes for my friend's birthday lunch! Everyone needs some type of cake on their birthday, right? I decided to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes, since they are a favorite around my office. However, when icing them the next morning, I ran out of icing for the last four cupcakes! I wasn't about to let these go to waste, so I whipped up some vanilla buttercream icing and went to my cabinets to see what kind of flair I could add to the appearance of the cupcakes! I found some coconut to sprinkle on top of the cupcakes and added a chocolate covered strawberry! I was pleasantly surprised to see how they turned out!