Sweet Stuffs and Memories

Since it's quite late, I'll keep this one short. As I had mentioned in the previous post, I had baked some macarons and brioches at home when I did not have work. Last night, I baked some Italian butter cookies (finally not a French pastry!) that I have adapted from Soap Mom's Kitchen. I would have followed the recipe as it was but since I only had 8oz (2 sticks) of butter, I had to readjust the entire recipe. I also just used 2 full eggs as opposed to the whatever ounce it should have been. Anyhow, in the end, I find it to be a pretty good attempt at imitating those sold in Italian bakeries! Ah, one bite and it just reminds me of how mom used to buy them by the pounds. She'd come home with that white box tied up with the red and white bakers twine. Nomnomnom. I think I'd like to keep these homemade from now on!

Here's the recipe for just the basic butter cookie:
8oz (227g) butter, softened
4oz (114g) sugar
2oz (57g) confectioner's sugar
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
12oz (341g) cake flour
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F (177°C). Beat butter in mixing bowl at medium speed with paddle attachment until soft (I heated my butter for a few seconds in the microwave to make the process easier). Cream granulated sugar into the butter until light. Add confectioner's sugar and continue to cream. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary throughout this entire procedure.
2. Add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Lower the speed and beat in the salt, flour, and vanilla extract. Mix until homogeneous.
4. Prepare a pastry bag with a large star tip and fill it with the cookie batter. Pipe 2 inch logs (or whatever shape you prefer) onto parchment paper and bake for about 10 minutes. Turn tray and bake for another 7 minutes or until the edges are brown. Cool on rack.

For the Italian butter cookies: After the cookies have been cooled, spread your choice of preserves onto each cookie half and press them together. Melt semi-sweet chocolate (I used an entire Nestle's semi-sweet baking bar) into a bowl. Prepare another bowl with sprinkles. Dip sandwiched cookies into the melted chocolate first then roll them around in the sprinkles. Lay each cookie onto parchment paper for the chocolate to set. Resting these in the refrigerator can also quicken the process as well.

I hope it works out for whomever is going to try this recipe! I was fairly pleased with it. As was my family thankfully.

Work is wearing me out. Not to mention that I got another burn on my arm. Lovely. I definitely need to catch up on my sleep now. Have a good night all!