For Earth Week: Reduced-Fat Planet Earth Sandwich Cookies with Blueberry Cream Filling

Want a cookbook-style copy of this recipe? No problem…just click HERE.


Saving the earth is usually considered a good thing. But when the earth in question is a delicious Reduced-Fat Planet Earth Sandwich Cookie with Blueberry Cream Filling, it’s best eaten, not saved.






These novel cookies not only taste great, they’re surprisingly easy to make. Kids will love them because they look fun and, well, because they’re cookies! Adults will love them because of the grown-up blueberry cream filling. (And because they look fun and are cookies, too! If they say it’s just the filling they’re drawn to, just nod your head politely to make it look as if you believe them.)


Some Cook’s Notes before we begin:
• The cookie portion is made from a sugar-cookie dough. This article includes the sugar-cookie recipe I like to use, but if you already have your own favorite sugar-cookie recipe, feel free to substitute it.
• If you prefer a cream filling other than blueberry, it’s no problem! Just substitute the fruit preserves of your choice for the blueberry preserves in the recipe.


This recipe makes about 18 large (3”) sandwich cookies, or 36 single-layer sugar cookies


First, let’s make our sugar cookie dough:


Sift together 5 cups of all-purpose flour, 1-1/2 tsp baking powder, and ¾ tsp salt.








In a separate bowl, beat 1-3/4 cups of sugar and 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp butter substitute till smooth and light in color. (Butter substitutes tend to be either firm textured or soft; choose a soft one for this, and don't leave it out to get to room temperature  as you would with full-fat butter.)




Mix 2 egg substitute and 1 tsp vanilla extract into the butter substitute mixture.






Separate the butter substitute mixture into 2/3 and 1/3 portions.






Mix 2/3 of the flour mixture and some blue food coloring into the 2/3 portion, and 1/3 of the flour mixture and some green food coloring into the 1/3 portion. (Because the dough is naturally yellow, for the blue dough it will be necessary to use a substantial amount of blue food coloring to overcome the green color that comes from mixing blue and yellow.)


Wrap the two batches of dough in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 hour. (For working with butter substitute, I've found chilling dough in the freezer works better than chilling it in the refrigerator as you would with regular full-fat butter.)
 
While the dough is chilling, make the cream filling as follows:


Melt 1 cup of blueberry preserves and 2 Tbsp butter substitute in a medium saucepan over low heat.







Mix in ½ cup of fat-free half-and-half, little by little, waiting till each addition is incorporated before adding more. (Adding it too quickly may cause it to separate.)




Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half, stirring very often avoid burning. Once the mixture is reduced, pour into a separate bowl and set aside until ready to use.


Prepare the “earth dough” as follows:


Cut the two chilled doughs in half, and keep each portion in the freezer until you’re ready to use it.


Break the green dough into small pieces and spread them out on a surface dusted with confectioner’s sugar.






Break the blue dough into pieces that are somewhat larger than the pieces of green dough. Place them in between the green pieces and use your hands to press them down so that they start to join together and start to resemble a flat earth-map.


Roll the dough out to about ¼” thick. (Covering it with wax paper while you roll the dough makes the clean-up easier later.) Using a 2-1/2” round cookie cutter, cut out rounds that look like earth globes. (After you’ve cut as many as you can, gently press the pieces together and roll it a second time to ¼” thick. You'll find the dough can be rolled a second time without over-developing the gluten and making the dough tough. Cut out more 2-1/2” rounds that resemble earth globes.)


Lay the cookies out on baking sheets lined with parchment or silicon sheets as shown in the photo above. Allow enough space in between for the cookies to expand to about 3”.


Bake at 375 degrees till firm, about 10 minutes, turning half-way. (As always when using two baking sheets, stagger them in the oven to allow the heat to circulate for more even baking.)


Let the finished cookies rest on the baking sheet for a minute or two, then remove to a cooling rack.




If you want to serve these as single layer sugar cookies, you’re done! To serve as sandwich cookies:


After the cookies and cream filling have cooled, place half of the cookies on the counter, flat side up.








Spread some filling on each of the cookies.













Place an unfrosted cookie on top of each, flat side down, to form sandwich cookies.














And there you have it. The world may not be your oyster, but – for Earth Week, at least – it’s your cookie, and I’d choose cookies over oysters any day!


Like what you see? For a notebook-ready, cookbook-style copy of this recipe, just click HERE.




Have a great Earth Week, and I look forward to seeing you again next week for another fun recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Green and White Holiday Cookies

I’ve come to believe it would probably have been better if Black and White cookies had been named something else. Don’t get me wrong: the name is accurate enough, if you can forgive that, technically, they’re really dark brown and white. It’s just that the name puts all the emphasis on the colors and completely overlooks what really makes these classic, round New York cookies a one-of-a-kind taste experience: their unique, almost cake-like texture.


Just as important (to me, at least), being able to change the colors and shape makes them one of the most versatile baked items for any occasion. Need an Easter cookie? Cut them in to egg shapes and make them pink and purple. Christmas? Try stars, Christmas trees or teddy bears and make them green and red. Valentine’s Day? Make red and white hearts. Your favorite team is playing in the Superbowl? Go with a football shape and the team colors. You get the idea.


Today’s recipe, for obvious reasons, makes green and white shamrocks. They’re all fun, all delicious and, of course, all reduced fat.


Some Cook’s Notes before we begin:
• Cutting the cookies into shapes is easy, but needs to be done immediately after removing the cookie rounds from the oven. Although the cookies have a soft texture even after they cool, the sooner you are able to make the cuts, the cleaner they will be.
• Speaking of cutting the cookies, there’s no need to discard the cut-away scraps. They may not be pretty, but they’re delicious. Save them for yourself to enjoy after the rest of the cookies have all been eaten.
• The dual-frostings on a traditional Black-and-White cookie are chocolate (brown) and lemon-sugar (white). Although, for color reasons, today’s recipe doesn’t include a chocolate icing, feel free to substitute one if that’s what you prefer.


This recipe makes 12 cookies, each roughly 4” across.


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.


In a bowl, combine 1 cup of all purpose flour; 1-1/4 cups of pastry flour; ½ teaspoon of baking powder; and ½ teaspoon of salt.










In another bowl, beat ½ cup of softened butter substitute and 1 cup of granulated sugar together. When the mixture is combined and smooth, beat in 2 egg-substitute eggs, then ½ cup of skim milk; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture, a little at a time, until combined into a smooth, creamy batter.


Drop the batter in ¼ cup portions onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicon baking sheet.










The batter won’t spread much on its own when you bake it, so use the back of a spoon to spread it into a circle about 3-1/2 to 4” in diameter.






Bake for about 11 minutes until the batter just begins to get firm. (Remember, after cooling, the finished cookie should have a soft, almost cake-like texture.)


If you want the cookies to stay round: let them cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then remove to a cooling rack until completely cool before frosting.


If you want to cut the cookies into shapes: cut the cookies with a cookie cutter immediately upon taking them out of the oven. Work quickly, since they won’t cut as well after they’ve started to cool.


Move the cut shapes to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before frosting.






As mentioned in the Cook’s Notes above, save any scraps. They make a great snack.










After the cookies have cooled, but before adding the frosting, apply a very thin coating of peach or apricot jam to each cookie. Let the jam dry before applying the frosting.


To frost the cookies:

• In a bowl, mix together 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar; 1 tablespoon light corn syrup; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; and 3 tablespoons of skim milk. This will be the white frosting.
• Using a small spoon, apply the white frosting to half of each cookie.








• Set aside a small amount (about two tablespoons) of the white frosting to use for any needed repairs after the rest is made into green frosting.

• To the remaining white frosting, add the juice of ½ lemon, and enough green food coloring to get the frosting to be the desired shade. Add two additional tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar to offset the added liquid and keep the frosting thick.

• Using a small spoon, carefully apply the green frosting to the unfrosted portion of each cookie.







Allow the frosting to dry and become firm before serving.














Click here to download a copy of this recipe in .pdf format!


See you next week with another great tasting recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Apricot Molten Lava Cake with Lemon Glaze

Welcoming new subscriber CatherineK to the Kissing the Cook family: it’s great to have you!


Molten lava cake: if you like delicious, whimsical desserts that are easy to make and fun to eat, it's one of the best.


There are many recipes for this classic dessert, and every I've looked at uses chocolate. Since my wife is allergic to chocolate, even to the smell of chocolate, I’m unable to cook with it. And so I took the lack of any recipes that weren’t chocolate as a personal challenge to create one, and a low-fat one at that. I decided on Apricot Molten Lava Cake with Lemon Glaze.


This was not done without a bit of trepidation. It’s one thing to put your own twist on an established food concept; it’s quite another to want to do something that’s unheard of. Jerry Seinfeld once said, “The road less traveled is usually less traveled for a reason,” and I’ve found there’s a lot of truth in that. (An earlier ill-advised attempt at another chocolate work-around - rice-krispy treats coated with butterscotch - comes to mind as just one example of what Mr. Seinfeld was referring to.) Still, the lava cake challenge was alluring, and somehow I knew it would work, and that adding the lemon glaze would give a nice contrast to the natural sweetness of the cake. I’m proud to report the delicious dessert below.


The ingredients, and the method for making the batter, are simple. (In overview, you’ll see that there are certain key substitutions for the usual lava-cake ingredients involved: apricot preserves instead of chocolate; fat-free Greek yogurt for egg-yolks; egg-substitute eggs for regular eggs; and butter substitute for butter.) The trick to making any lava cake work – moist cake on the outside; hot, tasty liquid filling on the inside – is in the baking time. Since this will vary somewhat from oven to oven, there’s a chance you may overcook these the first time, getting a nice, moist cake that tastes great but that is not liquid in the middle. Don’t be discouraged; eat them anyway and just remember to bake them a little less next time. (Remember, though, try to resist the temptation to eat them all. These are low-fat, not low-calorie.)




This recipe makes 6 large-muffin-size servings.


While preheating your oven to 425 degrees, melt 1-1/2 tablespoons of butter substitute, and use it to grease 6 ramekins or large muffin tins, then coat each with granulated sugar.


In a double boiler, melt 6 ounces of apricot preserves and 8 tablespoons of butter substitute, stirring gently and frequently. When they are melted and smooth, gradually stir in ½ cup of all-purpose flour, ¼ cup fat-free Greek yogurt, and 1-1/2 cups of confectioner’s sugar. When the mixture is combined and smooth set it aside.


In a bowl, use a hand-mixer to beat together 3 egg-substitute eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until they are thick, about five minutes. Once that’s done, gently whisk the preserves mixture into the beaten egg mixture until they for a well-mixed batter.


Pour the batter into the ramekins or large size muffin tin. (The batter doesn’t rise much so you can fill them nearly to the top.) Bake them for 10 – 14 minutes (depending on your oven), turning half-way, until the tops are firm and the edges are just starting to brown. The first time you make these, you’ll want to be sure you keep an eye on them in the oven so that the inside of the cake stays liquid. As with any molten lava cake, the bake time is critical.


After removing the cakes from the oven, let them rest in the ramekins or muffin tin for 3 – 4 minutes. While the cakes are resting, combine 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar with 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to form a glaze.


After the cakes have rested, run a butter knife around the edges of the ramekins or muffin tins to loosen them, and turn them out, as in the photo at right. Drizzle the tops and sides with glaze, and serve while warm.


I hope you enjoy this special treat. If you prefer a cookbook-style, notebook-ready copy of this recipe, just send me your e-mail address (if I don’t have it already) and it will be done!

(You can also find this and many other yummy desserts at  http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/, a great forum for all things sweet!)


See you next week! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)