Brown Sugar Cookies with Nordic Ware Cookie Stamps

Brown Sugar Sugar Cookies with Nordic Ware Cookie Stamps

Jazz up your cookies with these Nordic Ware Geo Cookie Stamps!

I'm not much of a decorator and don't have a passion to decorate my cookies or cakes. Hence, my love of the ultra easy Bundt cake! Well, Nordic Ware has created a great way to easily decorate cookies with these awesome Geo Cookie Stamps and they sent me a set to try!

Making these cookies is almost too easy. Make the dough, chill, roll out golf ball size balls...and press! These were made with a brown sugar, sugar cookie dough.


It's important to place these on an ungreased cookie sheet! I'm so accustomed to laying out a piece of parchment (I buy it in cases of 1,000 sheets so I have lots of parchment on hand) that I tried it with parchment. Well, believe me when I say that wasn't the best idea as I had to peel the dough off the cookie stamp. When I tried it without the parchment, it worked like a charm! The cookie stuck to the pan so I could easily peel off the cookie stamp.

Nordic Ware sent me this Big Sheet baking tray too. If your oven is wide, this will make baking much easier as it fits more cookies! Professional made aluminum pans are the way to go when baking cookies, and these baking sheets give you evenly browned cookies.


The cookie stamps are made with heavy cast aluminum and have wooden handles. Aren't they pretty?! You should lightly grease, oil with a brush, or spray the cookie stamp before starting to press. I gave them a quick spray with baking spray.


I can see kids having a really good time making these cookies with the family. You could make a batch of peanut butter and sugar cookie doughs and let them go to town. I put a few sprinkles on some of the cookies, and left some plain. The design on the stamps are just so pretty that leaving them plain really showed off the ridges.

These are the Geo Cookie Stamps set of three. Nordic Ware also sells the All Season Cookie Stamp set and the Holiday Cookie Stamp set. I've seen the Holiday set for sale at Target too. I imagine those make very festive cookies without having to break out to royal icing. Win!

You can decorate the cookies with sprinkles, colorful nonpareils, colored sugar, or silver dragees (dragees aren't sold in California...friends from the East Coast ship them to me).


Thanks Nordic Ware Nordic Ware for sending me these Cookie Stamps! They make decorating cookies super easy. I'm looking forward to making peanut butter cookies - forget the boring fork cross-hatch, these will look so much better!

Recipe: Brown Sugar Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
2 sticks (1 cup) butter at room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) light brown sugar
1 egg at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 2/3 cup (372 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Sprinkles, colored sugar, or other decorations

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until combined.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated.
4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight.
5. When you are ready to bake...
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
7. Make golf ball size balls of dough and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Stamp with the Nordic Ware Cookie Stamp. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
9. Bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on a cookie rack.

Disclosure: The family-owned Nordic Ware company, located in Minneapolis, provided me with the Cookie Stamps and Baking Sheet. Opinions about the products are my own. And, as you know by my Bundt pan obsession, I mean collection, I'm a super fan of Nordic Ware!

The Food Librarian's Kitchen Essentials

Kitchen Essentials (According to the Food Librarian)

I went to Crate & Barrel this weekend for some holiday shopping. The only way I can handle Xmas shopping is at night and with an audiobook playing in my head. Tonight, it was related to the Serial podcast. Have you been listening? So good. (You can find Episodes 1-11 here...and then just binge listen while shopping, driving or baking). Anyway, I heard Episode 11 and I'm just waiting for the last Episode to come out on Thursday. So what's a person to do while they wait? Listen to a podcast of people who are also waiting for the next Serial podcast. I listened to Serially Obsessed for Episode 11. Yes, I'm obsessed too.

Updated to add: Episode 12 was really good...but I want more!

Anywho, sorry that was a long intro/tangent...when I was in Crate & Barrel I came across the most ridiculous gadgets: The Mini Scone pan ($34) and the Butter Slicer ($9). I immediately posted a photo online with the caption:



The Mini Scone Pan and Butter Slicer.
You already have these tools.
It's called a knife.

And it definitely hit a nerve...thank goodness I'm not the only one who thinks these are clutter-making gadgets. Diane and I "talked" (you know, commenting on Instragram photos or via twitter is totally talking), and she mentioned using a bench scraper for these tasks too. I agreed that the bench scraper would totally work and is an kitchen essential. That got me thinking...what else do you need in your kitchen? Here goes:

Essential Practice Must-Have Kitchen Equipment List
AKA The Top 15 Items I would Unpack First If I Ever Moved

1. KitchenAid Stand Mixer
Can't live without this and most cookbooks expect you to have one. It doesn't need to be a fancy one...I've used the basic model for 20+ years.

2. Half Sheet Pans with Lid

Forget cookie sheets, these half sheet pans are so versatile. You can make thin sheet cakes like Texas Sheet Cake, cookies, roast chicken breasts, roast vegetables, and use them as a tray to carry stuff at dinner. Getting a few lids is helpful too! You can stack them in the fridge and they aren't as tall as a traditional 9 x 13 pan. I have about 10 of these in the kitchen so I made multiple trays of cookies without having to cool off and wash them between batches.

3. Parchment Paper Pan Liner for the half sheet pan (pre-cut)
These are so great. I buy them at a restaurant supply place in boxes of 1,000 sheets. You can use them on the half-sheet tray for cookies, fold to line a 9 x 9 square pan so it makes a sling (for easy removal of your brownies), sift ingredients onto the parchment and then pour it into the KitchenAid mixer slowly, and So Much More. I'm not a fan of the Silpat because you have to wash it, and the parchments are disposable and easy to use.

4. Bench Scraper (this one by Oxo has a comfortable handle) but this cheaper wood handle bench scraper works too.
You can cut scones into triangle with this!
You can cut butter with this!
See, I just saved you $43 at Crate & Barrel!

5. Rubber Scraper or Spatula
I get mine at Smart and Final or a restaurant supply place. You might want to mark a set "Baking Only" with painter's tape or a Sharpie. Because they are rubber and/or silicone, they really keep the smells of garlic, at least in my experience.

6. Ice Cream Disher or Ice Cream Scoop of various sizes and the Cookie Scoop
Must haves in the kitchen for dishing out the same size baked goods: cupcakes, drop scones and biscuits, cookies, etc.

7. Kitchen Scale

Make sure it is digital (more accurate reading) and that it can easily switch from grams to ounces (I prefer grams because it is easier to half or double a recipe, but many times you'll need ounces too). It's always faster to weigh the ingredients and it's more accurate!

8. Bundt Pan (dude, of course)
You really only need the basic one (12 cup Nordic Ware Bundt Pan) but you might want to get a fancy one and a 6-cup Bundt too. Read this post I wrote about my collection of Bundts.

9. 8" and 9" cake rounds and 8" and 9" square cake pans
Need rounds for birthday cakes and squares for brownies and snack cakes!

10. 9" x 13" Cake Pan
I like Magic Line's cake pans and their straight edges. They bake evenly too. Read my post about Magic Line.

11. Wire Rack (Half Sheet Size)
These are great because they fit inside a half-sheet pan. They can cool cookies, but you can also lay bacon or kale on it and pop it in the oven.

12. Big Old Sarah Wrap
If you are in the kitchen for any amount of time, I think you need to ditch the hand rolls of plastic wrap in favor of the industrial box. I've used one of these for years and can't image trying to wrap a half sheet tray with a little box. This lasts a long time (my friend is on 5 years, but I usually go through one in about 18 months). I get this one at Costco.

13. Good Vanilla (Nielsen-Massey)

Good vanilla goes a long way to making cakes taste good. I buy this mega bottle.

14. Big Pastry Tips and Disposable Pastry Bags
I like the big pastry tips to quickly frost cupcakes, but a basic set in a box is good too.
This is 100 bags is only $9. You can also get larger 18" bags.

15. Offset Spatula

I own at least 6 of these. Big ones and little ones. They frost. They ease muffins out of the cupcake tray. They get cookies off parchment. They smooth out batter in a pan. They rock.

Bonus: Good Cookbooks
My favorites are by Dorie Greenspan! Buy her latest one - Baking Chez Moi :)

Here are the photos from Amazon of the items I mentioned above. Happy shopping and avoiding the scone tray... :) - mary

      

      
      

      

 
P.S. You can get these products at most kitchen supply stores. I used Amazon because they have pictures. Also need to disclose that I'm part of Amazon's Affiliate program so if you buy anything these links, then I get a few cents (doesn't cost you anything and I'll never know who buys what).