food – simplemamame

Sugar Cookies with Almond Drizzle

When our youngest turned 5 in July he asked for his favorite cookies instead of cake. These sugar cookies are gobbled up faster than you can sing “Happy Birthday” in our house.

Sugar Cookies:

3 cups flour (gluten free flour can be substituted)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup room temperature butter

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Using a pie crust cutter, mix together flour, soda, powder, salt and butter until combined. It will be crumbly and butter will be the size of peas.

In mixer, beat eggs, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add flour mixture until combined. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Roll out dough and cut cookies into desired shapes (I used a biscuit cutter to get a circle shape). Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven on parchment lined baking sheets for 10-12 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown.

When your cookies have cooled, they’re ready for the almond drizzle.

Almond Drizzle:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp almond extract

1-3 Tbsp milk

In a small bowl, whisk ingredients into drizzling consistency. Drizzle across cookies with a spoon.

Leave a comment below if you tried this recipe. Happy Baking!

-Lauren

Gluten Free, Raspberry Lime Muffins

I recently picked up Tieghan Gerard’s latest cookbook: Half Baked Harvest – Every Day and was inspired by her blueberry lemon poppyseed muffins. They’re so delicious, you can’t stop at one muffin. I wanted to try something similar to her recipe, but with a different flavor profile. Raspberry and lime! I was pleasantly surprised with how well they turned out that I couldn’t keep this recipe to myself. That first bite tastes like key lime pie with fresh raspberries on top. Absolutely delicious!

Recipe:

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 single serve Greek yogurt (plain)

1 1/2 limes

1 3/4 cups of GF flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 cup of fresh red raspberries

1/2 cup of fresh blackberries (optional)

3 Tbsp raspberry jam

Mix wet ingredients (minus the jam) in a bowl, add juice of 1 1/2 limes and zest of one lime. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. With mixer going, slowly add dry ingredients to wet. When dough forms, add jam and berries until just combined. Drop into parchment lined muffin tins and bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 25-35 minutes.

I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as our family does!

Happy Baking!

-Lauren

Spritz Cookies

As promised! Another cookie recipe! These are, by far, my all-time favorite cookies. Ginger bread cookies are my second favorite. The boys always prefer home made cookies over store bought. So I’m always baking. Which is completely fine, because I love baking. Here’s my favorite Spritz recipe:

I purchased this cookie press from Target about 8 years ago. You can find them online or in any cooking store.

Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1tsp almond/vanilla extract

Optional: food coloring and/or sprinkles

Helpful hint: Make sure your butter and egg are the same temperature. It helps with the cookie press. If the butter has been microwaved to soften, the dough becomes too runny. If the egg and butter are too cold, the dough doesn’t go through the press. I pull my egg and butter out of the fridge and leave them on the counter for a few hours prior to starting the cookies.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400. Cream butter and sugar, add salt and extract. Slowly add flour until incorporated. Fill cookie press with 1/4 dough at a time and press cookies onto a clean, dry cookie sheet (I make this mistake every year, I try to press the cookies onto parchment, it doesn’t work). Bake 6-9 minutes, until cookies are set, but not brown.

Traditional Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2tsp ground ginger

1tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp all spice

1 cup packed brown sugar (can substitute dark brown sugar)

1/2 cup soft butter

3/4 cup molasses

2 eggs

Preparation:

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, add butter, molasses and eggs. Mix until completely incorporated. Cover and refrigerate 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes.

Note: wait until the cookies are completely cooled before decorating.

Shortbread Crisp

It’s fall y’all! Everyone’s got some kind of pumpkin spice something in their home and baking season is just beginning! This season, I was blessed to be able to work on this project with the lovely Megan and Naomi over at Happily Dwell. Cooking/baking is my love language. I absolutely love sharing recipes and my kitchen know-how with anyone who asks.

Clearly, he was ready to try apple crisp.

We love baked goods in our house. Whether it’s cookies, bread, pie, or crisp; we just love everything there is about baking. The time we all spend in the kitchen as a family, putting our recipe together, baking it in a warm oven (heating the house at the same time), the aroma of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg slowly creeping through the house, the joy and laughter we have sitting at the table enjoying the warm dessert fresh from the oven. Fall doesn’t get better than this!

This Shortbread Crisp recipe is so easy to make, and delicious, you’ll be wanting to make it every week.

I like to use the bottom of my measuring cup to level the crust prior to baking, giving the filling a flat surface to rest.

For the crust:

2 cups flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup (two sticks) chilled butter

For the filling:

6 cups sliced fruit (apple/peach/pear work great for this recipe)

1/2 cup sugar

2-3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Topping:

1 1/2 cups oats

1 cup flour

1 1/4 sticks of softened butter

1 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine crust ingredients. Use a piecrust cutter until it resembles pea-sized crumbs. Press into uncreased 9×13 cake pan. Bake 15 minutes.

Prepare fruit, add spices, and
pour over baked crust. Reduce oven to 350 degrees.

Combine crumb topping ingredients and sprinkle evenly over fruit. Place back into oven for 35-45 minutes, until sides of topping brown and filling is soft.

There you have it. The easiest Shortbread Crisp recipe out there. Enjoy Lovelies!