Recycling and Revamping

Holidays – done.

….

That was me taking a breather. It was nice though, I slept until noon every day like most people. Right? No?? Oh.

So what to do when you want to bake for your friends’ birthdays but are kinda lazy but obviously don’t want them to know that you’re lazy and instead think that you’re a super considerate and amazing baker and/or friend? The answer is to recycle and repackage old tried and true recipes as a revamp.

Here’s a fun way to package a cake.  Basically take any cake recipe and bake it as a sheet cake. Cut out rounds and layer it in jars with your favorite frosting. To add texture, crumble crunchy bits in between the layers, like cookies, or chocolate bars, or nuts.

Here’s my take on Jar Cakes:

Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting from my previous post. 

·    Because I wanted enough for 5 jars, I cut the cake recipe in half and baked in 9 x 13 inch pan for about 22 minutes. I also cut the buttercream recipe in half.

·    After the cake is cool, cut out rounds that fit into your jars. I used a biscuit cutter.

·    Alternate cake, frosting, and crunchy bits in layers. It’s best to use a pastry bag to pipe the frosting.

BOOM! Revamped!! Friends are impressed.

Here’s my take on revamping the trusty old butter cookie to make Spiral Cookies:

The butter cookie recipe is from this previous post.

·    I cut the recipe in half

·    Roll out to 2-3mm thickness rectangle

·    Spread a thin layer of your favorite jam and roll tightly. Don’t worry if the jam oozes out – just spread it on the outside of the roll.

·    Roll in sprinkles. Wrap in plastic wrap and tighten even further.

·    Refrigerate to harden before slicing and baking at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes or until slightly golden.

BAM! Revamped! Friends are super excited.

Before baking.

After baking.

Ps. The great thing is that people who are sick of your baking will be blown away. They will be thoroughly tricked into thinking you made something new. But you didn’t. And it’s awesome. You’re welcome.

Funfetti Art Birthday Butter Cookies

My good friend who lives in Toronto was approaching her birthday and I wanted to send over some cookies.  I made her these pretzel banana chip cookies last year, but wanted to send her a new spin on her favorite – the butter cookie!  What says celebration more than sprinkles and a cake?  I decided to add sprinkles in the batter and use a tiered cake cookie cutter for the shape.  These should ship well, plus the cookies taste better after a few days.  It’s fun sending her little packages.  I hope she’s surprised!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Funfetti Art Birthday Butter Cookies

Small batch

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter, softened

½ cup + 2 Tablespoons sifted icing sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla syrup

½ an egg

1¼ cups flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon sprinkles

Directions

1.    With a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

2.  Beat in vanilla syrup and eggs.

3.  Whisk flour and baking soda in a bowl.  Gradually add into butter mixture.

4.  Mix in sprinkles (10 seconds).

5.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight.

Dough chilled and ready to roll.

To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

6.  Take a small portion of the dough and roll out to 1/8 inch thick and cut out using cookie cutters.  Only roll out small portions of the dough at a time as re-working the dough will make the colours of the sprinkles bleed and turn the dough grey.

8.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden.  Cool on rack.

Before baking.

After baking.

Verdict: I super liked how the sprinkles created streaks in the dough when I rolled it out!  It reminded me of ’80’s designs!  Kind of art-y.  These are my all-time favorite cookies, and they did not disappoint as usual.  Buttery with nice vanilla aroma. My friend was surprised by and enjoyed the package! Success!

Wreath and Tree Butter Cookies

These are the cookies I made for my work’s cookie exchange! They are the classic butter cookies that I’ve been making for years and are my absolute favorite cookie of all time.  I posted them here last year.  This year, I added a green tint and made wreaths and Christmas trees.  I didn’t have any of the secret ingredient (vanilla syrup), which made a big difference, but they were still good with regular vanilla extract.

Wreath and Tree Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter

1 ¼ cup sifted icing sugar

2 Tablespoon vanilla syrup

1 egg

Green gel food colouring

2 ½ cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1.  Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

2.  Beat in vanilla syrup and eggs.

3.  Add food colouring to the colour of your liking.  Beat until incorporated.

4.  Whisk flour and baking soda in a bowl.  Gradually add into butter mixture.

5.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight. You can also freeze the dough for up to 6 months.

To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

6.  Roll out dough to ¼ inch thick and cut out wreath and trees.

7.  Add decorations.

8.  Bake for about 6 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden.  Cool on rack.

After adding colour.

Ready for the fridge.

Right out of the oven.

Best Ever Butter Cookie

I’ve been making these butter cookies every Christmas for over 10 years.  They are the best – simple, buttery, and very addictive.  My friends are huge fans – some would say these are their favorite out of all the cookies I make.  The secret ingredient is the vanilla syrup – instead of using vanilla extract, I use vanilla syrup that coffee shops use to flavor their coffee.  I used to decorate these cookies with icing, but now I prefer to sprinkle decorations before baking.

Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1 ¼ cup sifted icing sugar

2 Tablespoon vanilla syrup

1 egg

2 ½ cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Directions

1.       Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

2.       Beat in vanilla syrup and eggs.

3.       Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Gradually add into butter mixture.

4.       Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight. You can also freeze the dough for up to 6 months.

5.       To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

6.       Roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness or less, and cut shapes with cookie cutters.

7.       Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and add decorations (if desired).

8.       Bake for 4-6 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden.

9.       If decorating with royal icing, ice after the cookies have cooled completely. 

Before baking.

I made sent some of these cookies to my friend in Toronto.  Here’s how I packaged them.

All ready for more newspaper to cushion the cookies.

Verdict: Delicious as always! Even better the next day as the flavours become more prominent.