Rudolph the Red-Nosed Cookie

Christmas is all about giving and thinking about others, so why can't we incorporate a whole lot of cute into the giving?

At least, that was my thought when my mom asked me to bake her some cookies to take to work. My sister joined in the request. So now I had two workplaces expecting Christmas cookies. I had to do something different, something people will enjoy, something fun, something that will stand out.

That was when I was e-mailed via myrecipes.com newsletter a Rudolph Christmas Sugar cookie recipe. The reindeer shaped cookies were cute and fun. Chocolate chips, pretzels, sugar cookies, who wouldn't love all these things? It was given the mother stamp of approval and I started to plan.

The original recipe calls for just using plain, refrigerated sugar cookie dough. I'm not really a refrigerated sugar cookie dough girl, unless that dough is made by my own hands. So I dug into my Allrecipes.com stockpile to pull out The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies recipe.

No really. That's what the recipe is called. That made me giggle the first time I saw it, but it isn't false advertising. Although you want to be sure to refrigerate it for quite a while (I did mine overnight) these sugar cookies are fantastic and easier to maneuver than most.

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter, softened (feel free to do half butter, half margarine, that's what I usually do)
 2 cups white granulated sugar
 4 eggs
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 5 cups all-purpose flour
 2 teaspoons baking powder
 1 teaspoon salt

Directions
 1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.

 2. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Slowly stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. I recommend doing the flour cup by cup, since it's a lot.

 3. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour. (Recommended: Overnight.)

Now here my directions incorporate both the design of the reindeer cookies and the temperature and time of the sugar cookies. Feel free to use the sugar cookie recipe for just shapes or whatever else you'd like to do with it - it's extremely versatile. But for the reindeer you'll need pretzels (either alphabet shaped, twists, or something you can break into antler shapes), mini or regular sized chocolate chips, and red cinnamon candies or red m&ms.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Flour the surface and flour your hands. If you like it extra sugary feel free to use a little powdered sugar in your hands while you knead the dough. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness - estimate it, just so it's not super thick.

6. Cut out the dough using a 3-inch round cookie cutter. Places circles two inches apart on a baking sheet (using either parchment paper or a quick spray on the sheet).

7. Now here's the hard part. Pinch about 2/3rds down the circle with your fingers to shape the face. It should be kind of hour-glassy. Look at photos to get an idea for the shape, then have fun - they don't have to be anatomically correct.

8. Break your pretzels into antler shapes. This is frustrating. I used a knife, but wished I had bought the alphabet kinds to make those work. Whatever you find that will work best, go with it.

9. Bake on higher rack for 6 to 8 minutes or until the sides are just lightly browned.

10. Remove from oven and let cool for 1 minute. Place on a rack or somewhere to cool. Here you have to carefully place the chocolate chips on. Make sure you get it right the first time and don't touch them. They will be a bit melty, but you need to put them on before the cookie completely cools so it can harden onto the face. Place a cinnamon candy or M&M at the bottom for the nose. Now cool them completely and enjoy.

Packaging up these cookies might be a little hard, but the people at work will devour them and talk about how cute they are. So really, all the fuss is totally worth it. My favorite part was biting into an eye and an antler at the same time with the sweet, the chocolate, and the salty pretzel all at once. Yum. Don't feel too bad either, you know it isn't the real Rudolph.

- Mollie

Real Cookies: Marylands

When the debate came up between cookies versus biscuits, I expected it to be a simple process. Cookies in the U.S. are called biscuits in the U.K, right? Simple, easy, just like translation.

Not so fast!

The conversation proved to be a bit more difficult. We were told that there were some cookies, but it was only specific kinds that would be referred to as cookies, while otherwise it was typically biscuits. Although Wikipedia disagrees with me, Burtons Foods lists their product as "Maryland Cookies". So there you have it, the real cookie.

Okay, so that's just the package, I didn't get an exact photo of the cookie. Why? Because we ate them all pretty fast. It's hard to keep your hands out of the package.

These were the Double Choc type, or the chocolate cookie with chocolate chips and chocolate heaven cookie. Now this feels like a cookie to me. It was interesting though how crumbly they were when you bit into them. Delicious and chocolatey, yes, but very crumbly. Perfect with milk or as a nice late night treat, but not your mother's chocolate chip fresh from the oven. It was very much a packaged chocolate chip cookie. Yet without as much preservatives as they would have put in the U.S.

But my favorite part?

Choc full of yumminess! - Now that's good advertising for a cookie.

- Mollie

Guilty for Gigi's

Although Chicago is my home and probably one of the greatest food factories in the Midwest, I have been traveling about for a little over a month. This means, there's a plethora of other foods I've tried and baked in other cities, homes, states, etc. That doesn't mean I'm not going to share them with you though, oh no, especially when it comes to Gigi's Cupcakes.

My trip to Georgia was a long 11 hour car ride to a place where, in reference, there was mostly banjo music and beer discussed. Both are not ideal for a girl like me. Yet when my boyfriend and I had settled a bit into his apartment and decided to venture out into Athens to discover what it had to offer, I found out it wasn't quite the stereotype we had heard. Of course it wasn't Chicago, but not banjo music on the corner either. In fact, I knew I was okay when we found a Starbucks, Ben and Jerry's, Five Guys, and a cupcake shop all within walking distance of each other. I salivated a little, then texted one of my favorite baking partners, Ashley, about this new little cupcake store I had discovered named Gigi's. Of course, she's not new to the south (or cupcakes!) and told me they were wonderful, so I knew I had to try it out.

My last day in Athens, Georgia just before I waited at the bus station for my 21 hour bus ride, we got dessert at Gigi's. I was impressed alone by the cute counter tops with high stools to sit at, rack of t-shirts and Gigi gear, as well as the colorful array of cupcakes that sat beneath the glass. The thing I first noticed: "HOLY FROSTING!" GiGi does not skimp out, but instead uses the frosting very decoratively to create a tower of swirl that stands beautiful and doesn't look like you could destroy it. Of course, this made me a little skeptical to the countless complaints I hear from other foodies about the cake to frosting ratio, but I wouldn't turn down a cute cupcake due to that.

My boyfriend and I split a White Midnight Magic Cupcake. Beautiful name, although I had trouble remembering when I had to order and did a back bend to reread the sign beside it, but got me giggly as the kind, hard working girl got it out for us.The magic is the great combination of dark chocolate and cream cheese that still is light and fluffy. Dark chocolate cake and dark chocolate chips make me excited on it's own, but their frosting was extremely interesting. In fact, so interesting I probably annoyed my boyfriend. I was so determined that it couldn't be cream cheese frosting (this was before we looked it up) due to the fluffy and almost sugar granule texture that made it up. My boyfriend said it was like a marshmallow Peep and I agreed excitedly. He hit it on the nose. A Peep. That same fluffy, sugary, treat that I adored so much, yet lightly topping a cupcake. It also wasn't as thick since it had that dark chocolate mixing so well with it.

So not only does Gigi have this beautiful selection, but as we watched a large crowd fill in and out of the small store, we realized a menu full of cupcakes showed the variety of selections they offer. With a rotating schedule, but orders available for all their varieties, it was no wonder the crowd that flowed in and out of Gigi's. Everything from college girls in their sweats, families, nurses, mothers, to men came in to get a cupcake and enjoy it then or picked up boxes full of the great treats. I had to snoop online and found you can meet the cupcakes, which is probably the cutest phrase a cupcake company could come up with. Just a taste of their variety includes: S'mores, Banana Split, Lemon Ice Box, Kentucky Bourbon Pie, Merry Margarita, Wedding Cake, Texas Milk Chocolate, Birthday Surprise, Hunka Chunka Banana Love, and Champagne. There are even daily specials such as the Cherry Cordial we saw.

Not only was the small cupcake store just what I needed to feel comfortable in Athens, but they're quite the chain; locations range from Alabama, Texas, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, Nevada, Missouri, North Carolina, to Colorado. This is not just some itty bitty cupcake store, like I had thought. Yet, the cutest part? The hometown feel. I was pretty much a giddy school girl when I saw the painting to the left. Two Bulldogs, the University of Georgia's Mascot, kissing over their cupcakes and the Gigi's Cupcakes logo. How could you not love it? If I end up with my boyfriend in Georgia, I will apply to Gigi's in a heartbeat. Not only for the cupcakes, but for the fact that they have Gigi's merchandise that includes a "Ms. Princess" t-shirt with a cupcake on it. It might be for kids, but I want it!!

It just goes to show that people appreciate cupcakes no matter where you are, especially with that hometown feel and that sweetness to keep you coming back for more.

- Mollie