4th of July Patriotic Broken Glass Jello

4th of July Patriotic Broken Glass Jello

One of the top posts on the Food Librarian is Broken Glass Jello. I've made Valentine's Day, Laker's, and Christmas Jell-O in the past. Today, it's something perfect for the 4th of July. Can you believe it's almost July?!??!

My twitter feed is blowing up with hot tweets - "It's so hot!" "I'm melting" and "I can't turn on my oven." This is the perfect recipe for you! No oven...just some time chilling in the refrig!

Only a few ingredients are needed to make this crowd pleasing treat. Kids LOVE it. If you want to make a pie, check out JustJenn's pie!

This recipe is sooooooo easy...but be sure to plan for it. You'll need time to chill the colored Jello and then the whole thing - it's a two-day project. First, make blue and red Jello blocks. Second, make a milk mixture with unflavored gelatin and sweetened condensed milk, and combine with the blocks.

The milk mixture combines unflavored gelatin and sweetened condensed milk (don't get evaporated milk).



Happy Summer to you and yours!

Recipe:

6 ounces (one big 6-oz box or two small 3-oz boxes) of "Red" Jell-O such as strawberry, cherry, raspberry, strawberry banana

6 ounces (one big 6-oz box or two small 3-oz boxes) of "Blue" Jell-O

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (don't get evaporated milk)

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (that Knox stuff) (each envelope is approximately 1/4 ounce)

4 cups boiling water (for colored blocks)

1/2 cup cold water (for milk mixture)
2 cups boiling water (for milk mixture)

Step One: Making the Blocks

In separate bowls, dissolve the Red and Blue Jell-O in boiling water by adding 1 cup of boiling water to 3 ounces of Jell-O. Therefore, you'll need a total of 2 cups of boiling water for the 6 ounces of Jell-O (one big box or two small boxes). Mix to dissolve and pour into a container and chill until firm (overnight is probably best, but I have chilled it 3-4 hours until firm).

Note: Only add 1 cup of water per 3 ounces of Jell-O. Ignore the instructions on the box of Jello (they say to use 2 cups of water per 3 ounces). You need to use less water so the Jell-O is firm and can be cut into blocks.

Step Two: Cutting Blocks and Making the Milk Mixture

Prep a 9 x 13 pan by wiping a very, very thin layer of flavorless oil (such as canola) in the pan with a paper towel. You'll wipe off 99.9% of the oil...leaving just a very, very thin film.

Cut chilled colored Jell-O into small blocks.

Carefully mix the blocks in a 9 x 13 pan.

In a separate bowl, add 1/2 cup cold water. Sprinkle 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin on top of the cold water. Wait a few minutes for the gelatin to bloom (soak up some of the water), then add 1 1/2 cup boiling water and mix to dissolve. Add the can of condensed milk. Stir and cool. Pour cooled milk mixture over Jell-O. If you wish, skim off any bubbles from the surface of the Jell-O. Chill overnight until set.

Chocolate Cake with Biscoff Cream Cheese Frosting

Chocolate Cake with Biscoff Frosting

Chocolate sheet cake with Biscoff cream cheese frosting.

Dude, is there anything better?

My friend Agnes gifted me Biscoff spread over a year ago and I have been eating it straight from the jar. Trader Joe's now has a version too. I also picked up these Belgium made chocolate sprinkles at Surfas. They are very thin and way better than regular jimmies. 

I made Hershey's Perfect Chocolate cake in a 9 x 13 pan. It's a really easy cake made with, of course, Hershey's cocoa. It is an oil-based cake, with 1 cup of milk. I might try it with soy milk for a non-dairy version one day. The frosting is a mixture of cream cheese, Biscoff, vanilla and powdered sugar. Yummmmmy. 

I brought these pieces (in all different sizes...I wasn't a very good cutter!) to my current workplace and my former workplace.

Two co-workers were celebrating a birthday. When I picked up my carrying case (love these Snapware cases), they left me this poem written on a plastic plate. Ahhh. So cute!

You can make these into cupcakes, but you will need to double the frosting if you want to pipe the frosting. The cake is moist, and the frosting is light and tasty.

Recipe:
Chocolate Cake (from Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake)
2 cups sugar (I used 400 g)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 245 g)
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa (I used 72 g)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 cup milk (I used low fat milk, room temp)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare baking pans (see Hershey's recipe for various sizes such as rounds, cupcakes, bundt, and sheet cake). I used a 9 x 13 pan.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer with paddle attachment.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed 2 minutes.
4. On low speed, mix in the boiling water. Batter will thin out.
5. Pour batter into pans and bake.
6. 9 x 13 pan bakes for 35 to 40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then remove onto wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

Biscoff Cream Cheese Frosting (from Biscoff website)
1/2 cup Biscoff Spread
1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese, softened (Biscoff uses Neufchatel)
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

With a paddle attachment, mix all ingredients together until smooth.

Milk Chocolate Chunk Muffins - Donna Hay

Milk Chocolate Chunk Muffins

I need to get more organized. Um, it's June (how can it be JUNE?!?) and I've been saying this "New Year's Resolution" all year (and the year before that!)

I love to bake and should have an organized system of recipes to make. I've tried Pinterest, Google Bookmarks, calendars, "starring" things in Google Reader, printing out recipes and putting them "in a special place" (read: perhaps in a box or folder on my desk that quickly gets covered up...) to try to get organized.  I would like to have a calendar, shopping list and plan of action so I can prep the ingredients the night before. Right now, I roll out of bed and flip through some cookbooks or scraps of paper. This morning, I found milk chocolate chunk muffins from an old favorite, Donna Hay's Simple Essentials Chocolate cookbook and went into the kitchen for an early morning baking adventure.

Anyone have a good system of organization? If so, let me know! :)

This recipe is made with oil, milk and eggs as the liquid. I didn't have vegetable oil and used olive oil. I topped the muffins with some reserved milk chocolate chunks.

Finally, this has nothing to do with these muffins, but I wanted to share this photo of Cidney the Girl Doggie. She spends a lot of time, um, rolling around in the dirt in the backyard. When she comes back from the groomers, it looks like she got highlights in her blond hair!

Recipe:
Milk Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Adapted from Simple Essentials Chocolate by Donna Hay (on Amazon and in Libraries)

2 cups (300 g/10 1/2 oz) self-rising flour, sifted  (I didn't have self-rising flour - not a common item for sale in Los Angeles - so I used 284 grams all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and a dash of salt)
1/2 (40 g / 1 1/2 oz) cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder (see note above)
1 cup (220 g/7 3/4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar (I did have superfine sugar from C&H)
2 eggs (room temp)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup (160 ml/5 fl oz) vegetable oil (I ran out of vegetable oil so I used light olive oil)
1/2 cup (125 ml/4 fl oz) milk (I used low-fat milk)
1 cup chopped milk chocolate (I used Trader Joe's block of Milk Chocolate, about 6 ounces)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with liners or spray with baking spray.
2. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and sugar in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, vanilla, oil and milk.
4. Mix liquid ingredients into the flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Fold in the chocolate (reserve some to put on top)
6. Scoop into muffin tins. (Top with a few pieces of chocolate)
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (My muffins took much longer...don't know if it because I made several changes to the recipe, my oven or what.)
8. Makes 12 (I got 14 muffins).

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes, I'm a little slow to jump on bandwagon. I was hesitant to get a digital camera (what was I thinking on that one?) and haven't gotten an iPad yet. I remember reading about these cookies in the New York Times back in 2008 but can't believe it has taken me so long to make them!

This cookie recipe uses cake and bread flour, as well as a 24-36 hour waiting period before baking. The waiting period allows the liquid to dry out and makes a happier dough. Toll House's original recipe says to refrigerate overnight. Flour Bakery's cookies rest overnight and I've been trying to do that with all my cookie doughs.

Thank you Lori, Recipe Girl for this hint! After you roll out your ball of cookie dough, put 4-5 chips on top of the ball! Then, when it bakes, a few perfectly placed chips bake on top of the cookie! I can't tell you how many people said, "These cookies look perfect." I told them Lori's trick and now we'll have a bunch of perfect looking chocolate chip cookies in Southern California.

Recipe:
New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the New York Times (from Jacque Torres), July 9, 2008


2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate, at least 60 percent cacao (I used 16 ounces (1 pound) of chips in the batter: 1/2 bittersweet Ghirardelli chips and 1/2 Nestle Semi-Sweet chips)
Sea salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Mix in chocolate chips.
3. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Scoop balls of dough onto baking sheet. The recipe suggests 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls). I made smaller cookies of 1 1/2 ounce (yes, I used the scale). I only put 6 cookies on a half-sheet pan as they spread. 3 1/2 ounce cookies will be large!
6. Place a few chocolate chips on top of the cookie (thanks Recipe Girl for this tip!) Bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack
7. The recipe states to sprinkle sea salt on the cookie before baking...but I totally forgot that step! Next time!
Full instructions from the NY Times here.

Meyer Lemon Bars

Meyer Lemon Bars

My folks have a Meyer Lemon tree in the backyard. Thus, lemons galore! When life gives you lemons, you need to make some lemon bars!

I adapted a recipe from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich. Oh, by the way, the FTC says I'm supposed to disclose that the link to Alice's cookbook goes to Amazon. I'm in the Amazon Affiliate program where I get a few cents if you click through this link and buy stuff on Amazon (don't worry, I never know who buys what so you can add that Fifty Shades of Grey to your cart too). Anyway, I have to tell you this with all the links now! Oy vey. And what do I do with those few cents? I plow them back into Amazon buying cookbooks...so the cycle of Amazon is complete.

I really like the crust. It'll be my go-to lemon bar crust from now on. It uses melted butter and is super easy to assemble. The "blob" (yes, I think that is a baking term) of dough gets pressed into the bottom of the pan. Because it is "wet", you can get a really smooth surface. I used an off-set spatula to spread and smooth out the crust. The crust is on the thinner side...if you like a big, hardy crust, then this one may not be for you.

Here's a photo of my mom and dad last year holding their Meyer Lemons!

I increased the amount of lemon juice from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup. I like a big, thick layer of lemon on my lemon bars!

Meyer Lemon Bars
My yield was 25 bars (cut 5 x 5)
Adapted from by Alice Medrich's "Very Tangy Lemon Bars 2.0" (page 182) of her book Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-Mouth Cookies


Crust:
7 Tbsp unsalted Butter, melted
2 Tbsp sugar
¾ tsp  vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
1 cup (4.5 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour

Topping:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar (I used 7 ounces of sugar because Meyer lemons are milder than regular lemons. Alice suggest using 4.375 ounces but I missed that note in her recipe!)
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (I didn't measure my zest...used zest from two Meyer lemons)
2/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, strained (Alice Medrich's recipe calls for 1/2 cup juice, but I just kept squeezing my juicy Meyer lemons and just threw all the juice into the bowl!)

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with foil or parchment (create a sling for easy removal).

Crust: In a bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the flour and mix until just incorporated. Spread the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan (I used a small offset spatula). Bake 25-30 minutes until fully baked and golden brown.

Topping: While the crust is baking, stir together sugar and zest until damp. This will release the lemon oils. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the eggs. Add lemon juice and zest and stir until combined.

When the crust is baked, turn the oven temperature down to 300 degrees. Slide the rack out and pour the filling over the hot crust. Baked for an additional 20-25 minutes until center no longer jiggles. Let cool completely in pan before slicing. (I tightly wrapped and refrigerated my bars overnight)

Williams Sonoma Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake

Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake

This weekend, I got to see my friend Helen three days in a row! Friday night for the movie Five Year Engagement - it was funny and cute! Saturday night for the awesome Dodger's Game versus the Washington Nationals. The Dodgers came from behind in the 9th and then Matt Kemp's homer in the 10th inning won the game. Hella screams and shouts! Our seats were awesomeness - check these out! And on Sunday Helen hosted a brunch at her house!

I borrowed the book, Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Breakfast and Brunch from the library and made this lovely coffee cake. The cake has a layer of cinnamon-walnut-sugar (hence the name of the cake!)

You know I'm totally into the Bundt cake, but sometimes you need a Tube pan (which is NOT a Bundt) to make cakes with a topping.

This cake is made with cake flour, sour cream and oil. The crumb is pretty soft. Don't you just love Helen's oil cloth tablecloth? She's ready for summer entertaining.

Helen made some delicious potatoes. I had, um, perhaps three servings. Small servings...over and over.

Marie made a great fruit and yogurt parfait. Lots of fresh fruit! Yummmmmmy! Kathryn made fluffy dill eggs and Christine brought mimosas!

Williams Sonoma Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake
For the filling and topping:
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the cake:
2 3/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup canola or corn oil (I used Wesson's vegetable oil)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Oil a 9 1/2- or 10-inch tube pan with sides at least 3 3/4 inches high. Prep the pan by spraying it with Pam with Flour or oil the bottom of the pan.

Filling and topping: In a bowl, stir together the walnuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cake: In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In an electric mixer with paddle, combine the eggs and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly (very slowly) add the oil and vanilla and beat on low speed. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Mix in the sour cream just until no white streaks remain.

Pour about two-thirds of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top. Set aside 1/4 cup of the walnut-cinnamon mixture to use as a topping. Sprinkle the remaining mixture evenly over the batter. Insert a small knife about halfway into the batter and gently move it through the walnut-cinnamon filling to create a swirled effect. Pour the remaining batter evenly over the filling and smooth the top with the spatula. The batter will not cover the filling completely. Sprinkle evenly with the reserved topping.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. (My cake took about 63 minutes to bake). Transfer to a wire rack and let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around the sides and center tube of the pan to loosen the cake sides. Invert to remove and reinvert so it cools on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional).

I didn't make the caramel sauce, nor top it with powdered sugar. Here is the caramel glaze recipe on the Williams Sonoma site.

Recipe:
Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Breakfast and Brunch, by Georgeanne Brennan, Elinor Klivans, Jordan Mackay and Charles Pierce
Find it on Amazon here or in your library via WorldCat

Chocolate Mochi Brownie Squares

Chocolate Mochi Brownie Squares

Recently, I transferred to a new position at work. Still working for the same library system, but a new position at our headquarters. I'm tardy in posting photos of my going away party at my former library - they hosted a lovely dessert buffet...it was so sweet. Those are coming soon!

At my new workplace, one of my co-workers is on a gluten-free diet (darn you Celiac). I keep bringing in desserts she can't eat so I wanted to make something gluten-free. I love, love, love all things mochi (my family's history with mochi is well documented in my New Year's Mochi Making posts) so this recipe on my friend's blog JustJenn Recipes was a perfect fit.

Since these brownies are made with rice flour (I only use Koda Farms Mochiko rice flour), they have a distinctive "mochi" chew. They aren't too sweet and are a nice morning or afternoon treat.

I cut all my work treats "petite" size...I usually cut a 8 x8 pan into 16 or 25 pieces.

This is a great gluten-free recipe...and enjoyed by all! It's super easy to make...no electric mixer needed. I hope you make a pan full of yum soon!

P.S. Thanks for all the comments about my last post mourning the loss of Picnik. Picnik certainly had many fans!!! I used PicMonkey to add the text to the first photo. It is easy to use and the fonts are stylin' - I jumped for joy seeing Lobster Two! They say collages are coming soon! Some Picnik folks went to PicMonkey and you can see it. It is web based, but you need to pull your photos in from your computer, and can edit one photo at a time.  I hope they are able to add direct integration with Flickr at some point and make the whole process online, but it a great start!

Recipe:
Find the recipe on my friend's justJENN Recipes blog for Chocolate Mochi Brownies

My changes and notes:
- 1 cup mochiko (Koda Farms brand) was 4 7/8 ounces by weight
- I used 1/2 cup Nestle semi-sweet morsels for the melting
- I mixed 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips into the batter then put the pan into the oven. After 15 minutes of baking, I sprinkled the remaining 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips on top. I think this helped prevent the chips from falling to the bottom of the pan.
- I used an 8 x 8 pan and baked it for 52 minutes.

Strawberry Jello Dessert with Pretzel Crust

Strawberry Jello Dessert with Pretzel Crust

What better way to celebrate summer, National Library week and one of the most awesome fruits, the strawberry?! It's the Strawberry Jell-O Dessert. Some people even call it a "Strawberry Jell-O Salad".

Sweet.
Salty.
Creamy.
Jell-O. (Yes, I think this is a food and a texture).

This a homey dessert to enjoy during strawberry season...or after! I saw several recipes using frozen strawberries but I think fresh strawberries would be best.



Next time, I would crust the pretzels a bit more so the crust will be tighter. I've seen some recipes that have you process the pretzels in a food processor.


You can find a zillion variations of this recipe... Baked, Kraft Foods, ... and lots of Church cookbooks.

Don't forget to visit your local library's book sale for a chance to pick up "vintage" cookbooks. It is a lot of fun to read about food culture in the past. When butter was expensive, you'll see lots of shortening recipes (nobody knew about the dangers of partially hydrogenated oils at the time!) Or you may see the introduction of "ethnic" foods into the American diet...like when they need to put a header note explaining the "taco"! Book Sales usually raise funds for the Friends of the Library group which in turn helps fund programs, programs and other needs of the library.

Happy Library Week! I'm celebrating with a few giveaways: Baked Cookbook (new, not vintage ;) and some cute Biscuit Cutters.  - mary the food librarian

Recipe:
Strawberry Jello Dessert with Pretzel Crust

Crust:
3 cups pretzels, crushed with a rolling pin
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar

Mix together and press into greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Allow to cool completely.

Filling:
1 - 8 ounce container Cool Whip
1 - 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar

Cream the cream cheese and sugar together in a mixer. Add in the Cool Whip until combined. Spread over cooled pretzel crust. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before topping with Jell-O.

Topping:
1 large box (6 ounce) strawberry Jell-O
2 cups boiling water
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, sliced

Mix together the boiling water and Jell-O. If using frozen strawberries, add strawberries and allow mixture to set slightly before pouring over the filling - it shouldn't take very long. If using fresh strawberries, place the strawberries in the Jell-O and allow to sit in the refrigerator to set up before pouring over the filling.

Refrigerate the dessert a few hours until completely set before serving.

Crystallized Ginger Scones - Williams Sonoma

Crystallized Ginger Scones

There are very few flavors I love more than ginger. In fact, I can't think of any right now.

Ground ginger. Crystallized ginger. Fresh ginger in savories and sweets. Ginger tea.

Ah, ginger rocks.

Here are some ginger scones from a Williams-Sonoma's recipe that is an adaptation from the Zuni Cafe in San Francisco.

Whoo hoo! It's National Library Week. I love this quote from Eleanor Crumblehulme. You can get a t-shirt of it too! (Designed by Daniel Solis). I hope you are visiting your local library and checking it out (oh yes, we librarians are full of puns). I love all your sweet comments about the importance of libraries in your life and community!

Next time, I could have made these a bit thicker, but they were tasty. I also brushed on some cream and sanding sugar. Sanding sugar is happiness in little crystals. Put it on everything. Except maybe steak.

This is supposed to make 8 scones, but I cut them with these cute biscuit cutters (smooth side) and got a bunch. And guess what? You can win a set of these cutters for National Library Week!! Enter until April 16, 2012!

Recipe:
Williams-Sonoma Crystallized Ginger Scones

2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 egg
1/2 cup heavy cream

The Williams-Sonoma recipe uses a scone pan and food processor. I made mine by hand and cut them with biscuit cutters.

1. Preheat an oven to 350ºF.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the butter and using a pastry cutter or your fingers, combine until it resembles pea-size crumbs.
4. Add crystallized ginger and stir to mix.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cream until blended and add to the flour mixture. Using a fork, stir to form large, moist clumps of dough.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press with your hands until the dough comes together. Roll out the dough, 3/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on parchment lined pan.
7. Bake until the scones are golden, about 25 minutes.
8. Place scones on wire rack and let cool. Enjoy!

Girl Scout Thin Mint Scones

Girl Scout Thin Mint Scones

My friend's daughters were selling Girl Scout cookies. My favorite time of the year! I helped them and left the order form out at work (along with this cute photo of the girls!) and sold 81 boxes of cookies at a couple work places! Um, I may or may not have purchased a bunch of said cookies. You know, supporting youth. I'm all for it.

Cream scones. Thin Mints. Match made in baking heaven!

I made the scones in the evening and cut them into 16 small squares. I put them on this 1/4 sheet pan and wrapped it tightly with plastic wrap. Then I froze them overnight. In the morning, you can just pop them in the oven (spread out on two 1/2 sheet pans) for a little longer than the recipe's recommended baking time. In my rush, I forgot to put the egg wash and sanding sugar on the scones before baking so your finished scone may look a bit different.

I chopped up less than one sleeve of Thin Mints (about 12-14 cookies). It was a little less than 1 cup...enough to give a Thin Mint taste with a few cookies remaining to eat while they bake! :)

Thin Mint Scones
Adapted from: Cream Scones from the Art and Soul of Baking (page 152). This is a very good book - find it on Amazon or in your library.

2 cups (10 oz) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1 3/4 oz) granulated sugar
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 stick butter (4 oz) (cold, cut into pieces)
1 cup (8 oz) heavy whipping cream (cold)
3/4-1 c chopped Thin Mint cookies (about 12-14 cookies) (less than 1 sleeve of Thin Mints (2012 box size))

Topping
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 T sanding sugar or granulated sugar

1. Preheat over to 425 degrees
2. Mix together dry ingredients.
3. Using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingers (I use my fingers), cut in the butter. (The book uses a food processor, but I like to make scones by hand...less to clean up!)
4. Add whipping cream and chocolate chips. Blend together quickly (I use my hands and/or a spatula). Do not overmix.
5. Shape into a round or square.
6. Cut into shapes.
7. Place on parchment or Silpat covered baking sheet. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake for 14-16 minutes (depending on your oven) until golden brown and delicious. I cut my smaller and got 16 scones.

Other Thin Mint cookie baking ideas...


Thin Mint Brownies


Thin Mint Brownies


Thin Mint Cupcakes