Gimme Some Sugar
It's February and love is in the air, even if it's just your love of chocolate or roses. This month's recipes come with stories of love from some more of our current members.
Carol Miller's Sandies
Originally found in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, this cookie recipe shows up in Carol's kitchen all year round. Depending on the cookie-making occasion you might find a different surprise inside or on top: crushed candy cane at Christmas, a chocolate kiss for Valentine's Day. These little cookies are more than dessert, they are tiny expressions of love for her husband, children, grandchildren, neighbors and friends.
1 cup butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp water
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour (any type)
Optional: chopped pecans or walnuts
Preheat oven 325 degrees. Mix sugar and soften butter. Add water and vanilla, then flour. Chill and roll into small balls +/- 1 inch. Space out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool slightly and cover in powdered sugar. This recipe makes 2-3 dozen cookies.
Sherry Burch and Amy Duncan’s Almost Perfect Macrons
With more time at home during the pandemic, Sherry has been watching nightly installments of The Great British Baking Show with her husband. As a result, Sherry now believes that she can, nay should, bake anything that crosses her mind. In a conversation with her sister and fellow club member, Amy, it was decided that they would embark on a baking adventure together: French macrons. The very next day Amy enlisted a little help from a Sur La Table virtual class to help them make fresh raspberry macrons (the link includes a prep sheet with the recipe). A pink macron makes the perfect Valentine’s Day treat, right?
Long story short, their macrons weren’t perfect, but the sisters learned a lot. Here are a few pieces of advice:
Sift your dry ingredients, then sift again, then…sift some more
Really put some muscle in when knocking the air out of the batter
Let your unbaked macrons dry until they develop a skin
If your 9 year old niece says they aren’t fully baked, listen to her
Every step takes longer than you’d expect, keep going