Where it all began...

Apparently I make good cookies. Not just good cookies but awesome cookies. Not my words, the words of my family and friends. Don't get me wrong, I can follow a recipe. But I'm not really sure what makes them so delectible. I almost feel as though I am cheating my family, mostly my husband, out of the tastefulness of life when I make cookies from premade dough or pour them out of a box. They even have their own name: Shari Cookies. These "Shari Cookies" have become the only request of my family as Christmas presents and are a requirement at family parties. It all started Christmas 2005 when I tried to get a cookie exchange going. I made hundreds of cookies in my college apartment all by hand (I didn't yet have a mixer), in an oven that barely fit one pan. My roommate awoke to masses of baked goods covering each and every surface of our living space, save her bedroom and our tiny bathroom. I boxed them all up, well most of them, wrapped them in holiday flare, and placed them under the trees of my unsuspecting family members. With visions of sugar plums fleeing their dreams, they awoke to the sugar spender that has now become the traditional holiday staple. My goal is to get some practice this year. Not that I'm rusty. I absolutely adore baking. However, it seems as though I always go into the holiday cold, without the proper shoes, stretch and warmup. Not this year. This year I plan to outdo all the rest, which will be hard to do, for sure. And so, "The Cookie Project" was born. Each week I plan to make one type of cookie. It must be from scratch and have all the love and tenderness of warm homemade cookies and the subsidial milk, sans the slobber of my husband's spit on the spoon. So, one homemade cookie a week. This can't be good for our waistlines, but he's not complaining...

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Week Fourteen: Rum Balls and Butter Rum Cookies

Rum Balls
Yields 4 dozen
Courtesy of MarthaStewart.com

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil, cooking spray
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark rum
Coarse sanding sugar, for rolling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. Melt butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in chocolate mixture, then fold in flour. Pour batter into prepared baking sheet. Spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until top is shiny and a cake tester inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Break up brownie into small pieces; transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With machine on low speed, pour in rum, and mix until crumbs start to come together to form a ball.
Shape into 1-inch balls, and roll in sanding sugar to coat. Transfer to a baking sheet; refrigerate, uncovered, until cold, about 2 hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature.


Ms. Martha Stewart and I have a love\hate relationship. I love how crafty she is but sometimes her recipes and crafts are a little out of my league. I found this recipe when I was looking for rum recipes last week and wanted to give it a try. My mother-in-law makes awesome rum balls that are gluten-free. I wanted to try this recipe because I love brownies and figured this would be a new way to try them. I also tried different decorations for them as well. Hers are always rolled in powdered sugar. My friend Lisa gave me the cute colored sugar as a gift one year and I had the Christmas non-parels sitting in my cupboard. I like the sugar crystals better and it looks really cute! These are really strong. I didn't have dark rum on hand because I hate the way it tastes, so I used our St. Lucian rum once again. These also taste a whole lot better once they are refrigerated.
Since I feel as though I have jipped my readers by not continually making cookies and taking breaks some weeks, I decided I would double it up this week. Here is a bonus recipe that I also made tonight!! Enjoy!

Butter Rum Cookies
Yields 4-5 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar, divided by recipe directions
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp rum
2 1/2 cups unsifted flour
1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped orange peel

Directions:
Cream butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light. Beat in egg yolks, flavorings and rum. Gradually add flour, using hands to knead in last of it. When dough is smooth, shape into rolls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, wrap in waxed paper (or plastic wrap) and place in the refrigerator. Chill for at least 6 hours or overnight. Cut into 1/4 inch slices and roll each slice with hands to form a ball. Roll balls in a mixture of the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and orange peel. Place on cookie sheet and flatten with a flat bottom glass dipped in the sugar-orange mixture. Bake on lightly greased and floured cookie sheet at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container for at least 1 day before serving for best flavor.



These cookies were easy to make but included a lot of waiting time. Once again I used the Admiral Rodney Rum from St Lucia to flavor these cookies. I tried one straight out of the oven and it tasted wonderful. The orange is a bit much so I wouldn't use as much as the directions say. They are very soft cookies and the added sugar in which they are rolled add some much needed sweetness with all the butter. These are cute and sparkly cookies that would be great in a cookie tin as a gift as they would package very well.
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