Gingerbread Cookie Clouds

If you follow me on facebook or twitter you may have noticed that I have been spending a bit of time away from APT 2B. There was just too much exciting stuff happening without me back home in Seattle so I decided to spend a nice chunk of time with my family and friends out west this holiday season. So here I am, in the great Northwest making wreaths and pine cone garland and chasing my parent's chickens around the back yard. It is glorious. I get to cook and bake for all of my favorite folks who I don't get to see too often and I have had lots of time to tackle some of my favorite holiday recipes. I usually make these gingerbread cookies to decorate the mantle in our apartment, but they are just as good for tea time. Happy Holidays everyone, I hope you all get to spend time with the folks you love most.

Gingerbread Cookies
from Simply Recipes
yield about 3dz, 3'' cookies

3 1/4c all-purpose flour
3/4t baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1T ground ginger
1T cinnamon
1/4t ground cloves
1/2t finely grated nutmeg
1/4t finely ground black pepper
1/2t salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, then the molasses.
3. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. You may need to use your hands to finish the mixing as the dough is quite stiff. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hr.

When you are ready to bake heat oven to 350°.

1. Place one half of the dough on a lightly floured board, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to 1/4'' thick if you prefer chewier cookies, 1/8'' thick if you prefer crunchy. Use a cookie cutter or stencil to cut out desired shapes. If you find the dough is too soft to cut into shapes, try refrigerating it on a sheet pan for a few minutes, then proceed to cut out your desired shapes.
2. Place the cut outs onto ungreased sheet pans or pans lined with silicone mats. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges have just barely begun to brown. Cool the cookies on the pans for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cook completely. Decorate as desired.

To Decorate

Royal Icing
from Simply Recipes
yield, enough to decorate about 3dz, 3'' cookies with lines and dots or about 1/2 that amount if you are filing in the cookies completely

1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1. Combine all of the ingredients and beat with a hand mixer (or in a stand mixer) until stiff peaks form. See this link over at Simply Recipes to learn how to cook this icing to make it safe for pregnant ladies, old folks and kids. I used the microwave method because I know my pregnant sister in law was going to eat these cookies and the icing turned out great.

Use a pastry bag fitted with a #2 or #3 round tip and the stiff icing to add lines, shapes and dots to your cookies. You can also use this icing to outline cookies you plan to flood completely, as I did with my clouds. To fill the clouds, simply dilute the icing with a few drops of water or lemon juice and fill in the outlines you've made. For more detailed instructions, I have linked to a video below.

Notes
- For detailed decorating instructions I have to defer to my girl Martha. I've linked to a video where Martha and Aisha Tyler decorate sugar cookies, but all of the techniques are the same. Fast forward about 1/2 way through to get to the decorating part.
- I've made the Martha Stewart gingerbread cookie recipe in the past, but I find that the one above makes for a chewier cookie due to the slightly higher fat to butter ratio. I also prefer this combination of spices which is a bit milder than Martha's.
- These make great cookie ornaments, just pierce a hole in the top of the cookies before baking, decorate and put them up on your tree (or mantle). Remember to bake the cookies thoroughly and the cookies will puff a bit so make sure to make the hole big enough to put a string through.
- I got my incredible, handmade cloud cookie cutter from Herriott Grace.

Skillet Corn Bread with Jalapeño Honey Butter

I am on a mission people. A mission to clean out all of the bits and bobs and random bags of who knows what that have been hiding in the dark corners of my pantry (can just one cupboard be called a pantry?) and fridge for who knows how long. First up was the half full bag of cornmeal and the sad jalapeño left over from a pepper jelly adventure. Note to self: use gloves next time you make pepper jelly, seriously you are not that tough. Moving on...I think my heavy cast iron skillet was the most important part of this bready equation so use one if you have it. If you don't, a stainless steel skillet would probably work, but you will miss out on the superb crunchy crust that the cast iron gives the bread. I originally planned on chopping up the jalapeño and adding it into the batter, but Mr. Honey Bear caught my eye and I realized that it would be much better utilized in a sweet, spicy accompaniment, and jalapeño honey butter was born. The sweet, savory, spicy combo will knock your socks off so break out the cast iron this weekend and try out this recipe. Happy Friday!

Skillet Cornbread
adapted from epicurious

1 1/2c yellow cornmeal
3/4t baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
kernels from one ear of fresh corn, about a cup
2 large eggs
1 3/4c buttermilk or milk with 1T of lemon juice or vinegar mixed in
4T unsalted butter, softened

Heat your oven to 425º. Place a dry, 9'' cast iron skillet in the middle of the oven to heat while you prepare the other ingredients

1. In a medium bowl, stir the cornmeal, baking soda, and salt together.
2. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk together.
3. Remove your skillet from the oven, careful it's hot! Toss in the butter and swirl it around the bottom and sides to melt it. Add the melted butter to the buttermilk/egg mix, then put the skillet back into the oven until you are ready to use it.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, then gently fold in the corn kernels. Pour the mixture into the hot cast iron pan and slide it back into the oven. Bake for 20-25min or until golden. Serve warm with jalapeño honey butter.

Jalapeño Honey Butter

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3T honey
1/2 of a jalapeño, minced finely
pinch salt

Whisk all of the ingredients together. Store leftover butter tightly wrapped in the fridge or freezer.

Note:
- If you are nice to your cast iron pans, they will last forever. Just please, for the love of unicorns, don't wash it with soap and make sure it is totally dry before you put it away. I always heat mine on the stove until all of the water evaporates.
- If you don't have a cast iron pan, you can buy them real cheap at most hardware stores.