Sam's Swirl Cookies

I made these swirl cookies and donated them to The Ronald McDonald House in memory of Sam's 2nd birthday. They were fun to make and the kids loved them.

Icebox Swirl Cookies by Martha Stewart

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1 3/4 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs, plus 1 egg white for brushing
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 c. milk
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 5 c. all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder
• gel-paste food coloring

1. Mix butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed til creamy. Add eggs and salt; mix until well combined. Beat in milk and vanilla. With mixer running, add flour a little at a time til well combined.

2. Divide dough into balls- one for each color. For chocolate dough, add cocoa (1/4 cup is enough to flavor half a batch) ; mix well with electric mixer. For colored dough, add 1/4 tsp. food coloring; mix well. Add more in tiny amounts for darker colors.

3. Wrap each ball of dough in it's own sheet of plastic wrap; pat flat into a rectangle. Refrigerate at least one hour or until ready to use. At this point the dough can be frozen for up to one month. 4. Parchment or waxed paper makes a good work surface. Sprinkle generously with flour, then roll out each piece of dough 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Roll out one color at a time. I rolled mine out to an 8x12 rectangle, but you can make them any size you want.

5. Place the rolled out dough on baking sheet and return to the refrigerator to chill while rolling out the other colors. Brush each layer with eggs whites- this will act like glue to keep the layers together. When you layer the colors you want (don't layer too many colors- it'll be hard to roll up and the cookies will be ginormous) roll up carefully and wrap in parchment paper. Return back to the refrigerator for at least 1.5 hours or wrap really well and freeze til ready to use. To help the logs keep their round shape, set each in a cardboard paper-towel roll that you have sliced open lengthwise.

6. When ready to slice cookies, cut 15 inches of dental floss (or double thickness of thread). Let log soften for about 10 minutes (out of fridge). Remove parchment. Wrap floss around log and pull through. Make the slices thin: 1/4 inch or less.

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place slices on an ungreased baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). Bake for 12 to 18 minutes (depending on size), until firm but not browned. Let cool on baking sheet for several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 4-6 dozen depending on size of logs. ha ha, I said logs :-)

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Like I said, it's labor intensive, but if you break up the process it's not so bad. I made the dough one weekend and froze it til a couple of days before I needed them. I thawed the logs out in the fridge overnight and baked them the next. Honestly the hardest part was cutting the slices with the floss, but it really is necessary to keep the slices neat and clean without the colors "bleeding" into each other.

These can be made with vanilla and chocolate swirls (ie: without the food coloring). The vanilla part isn't that flavorful, but other extracts would be nice too. Like orange, almond or peppermint instead of vanilla. The chocolate dough is quite tasty though :-)

Have fun making these. If you have little ones in the house, get them to help you. Aaron had a blast choosing the color combinations and tasting as we assembled. I think that was his favorite part.

Making Oatmeal Cream Pies Jealous

I made these yummy things for Sam's nurse. Last year I took oatmeal raisin cookies to her at the hospital. She said she doesn't eat many sweets, but these are her favorite cookies- score! So this year, I wanted to make them just a little better and I think I succeeded. These were awesome, with a capital A. I gave her half of them and refrigerated the rest. They were even better the next day because the cookies softened and tasted like Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies- only much better and dare I say- healthier?

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

by Quaker

• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
• 1 c. raisins
• 3 c. Quaker Oats, old fashioned, uncooked

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugars til creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add combined flour, soda, cinnamon, salt. Mix til fully incorporated. Stir in oats and raisins.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, then remove to wire rack.

NOTE: I used an ice cream scoop to make uniform sized cookies. They were slightly bigger than tablespoonfuls so they took a couple more minutes to bake- approx. 14-15 minutes. Using the scoop yielded 36 cookies (or 18 sandwich cookies).

Mascarpone Cream Cheese Filling

• 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2-3 tbsp. honey
• 1/2 c. powdered sugar, sifted

Combine cheeses in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer til creamy and lump free. Mix in desired amount of honey. Then stir in sugar til sweetened to your liking.

To assemble the sandwich cookies: Place about one tablespoon of mascarpone filling on one cookie and top with an additional cookie. Gently squeeze together to allow the filling to come to the edges. Don't press too hard or the filling will ooze out. Eat right away or refrigerate leftovers for up to 4-5 days. The longer they sit in the fridge, the softer they'll be. This recipe made enough filling for 18 sandwich cookies.

Sam's Birthday Cupcakes

I made these for my son Sam's 2nd birthday. He's in Heaven, but I'm sure he would have loved them. Or maybe he would have thought they looked funny because they're red! He would have loved them if they were covered in sprinkles, that I'm sure of. I thought they were really good and pretty!

I love the deep red color of this southern cake. Originally thought, the vinegar and buttermilk mixed with the cocoa when baked turned the cake red. But if that were true than any and all chocolate cakes that included buttermilk or something else acidic would turn the cake red, and it doesn't. Nowadays, it's made with red food coloring- lots and lots of red food coloring! You might want to wear an apron and rubber gloves :-)

Red Velvet Cake

adapted from The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook

• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. shortening
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1 oz. bottle red food coloring
• 3 tbsp. cocoa
• 2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 tbsp. vinegar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3- 8 inch pans or line 18 muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside.

To make the cake, in a bowl cream the sugar and shortening. Add the eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl make a paste with the food coloring and cocoa. Add the paste to the shortening mixture. In another bowl combine the flour and salt, and add to the mixture. In a cup mix the buttermilk, vinegar and soda, and add to the mixture. Pour the mixture into prepared pans.

Bake for 25-30 minutes in the cake pans and 15-20 for the cupcakes, or until done. Let the cake cool in the pans completely before removing.

When cool, frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe below).

NOTE: I made this cake in one large bowl. I creamed the butter and sugar, then added the eggs, then alternately added the dry ingredients with the wet. I then added the food coloring at the very end.

The original recipe called for 4 ounces of red food coloring. I only used one 1 oz. bottle and it was plenty red. If you want to add more, go right ahead. This would also be fun to try out other colors, like blue, green, or even purple.

This recipe makes one 3-layer cake or 18 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 4 tbsp. butter, softened
• 3 c. powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

In a medium bowl, cream the cheese, butter and vanilla til smooth with a hand mixer. Slowly mix in sifted powdered sugar til light and fluffy. Frost cake and top with nuts. Eat right away or refrigerate any leftovers.

Happy Birthday my Love!

Samuel Andrew - August 15, 2006