Operation Sugar For Soldiers

It's that time of year again to dust off our baking mitts and fire up the oven for some holiday giving! This is my third Christmas serving Operation Baking Gals and I am getting everyone involved in the sweet feeling of mixing, stirring, and heating-up at 350 to bake for our troops overseas. We cooked up and gathered 15 giving souls to bring their culinary best and bake as many cookies as they could to ship to the troops on December 16th. Knowing the calibre of people that I recruited for this job, I knew we would get a good selection of cookies cookin'...but I was brought to tears by the amount of sugar laden goodness that was brought forth by this effort. Weighing in at 80 pounds of cookies stuffed full into 5 boxes, we shipped more sugar than I could have ever imagined!! Wow.

The amazing soldier we sponsored this year is named Tyler Sutton. He is stationed in Afghanistan and while he is fighting for the marines day in and day out, it never ceases to amaze me that while we are lighting up our Christmas trees and unwrapping gifts from Santa, these soldiers are selflessly giving up their holidays at home to fight, stand up for and protect the land where we are building our snowmen. A cookie doesn't even begin to show our thanks, but we hope these homemade gifts of sweetness can bring a touch of home to all the soldiers on Tyler's base this holiday season. They are the true heros of Christmas, and we honor them with all our hearts.

Birthday Cake Cookies

Ingredients 

1 box of vanilla cake mix (any kind with pudding in the mix)

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2-1 cup rainbow sprinkles (add as much as you desire)

FROSTING:

1-2 cups of powdered sugar

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Milk (add to achieve smooth consistency) 

Rainbow sprinkles

Recipe

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) In a large bowl, mix together cake mix and baking powder

3) Add eggs and oil - mix until blended

4) Stir in rainbow sprinkles (try not to over mix the batter)

5) Using a medium sized ice cream scoop, drop onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper

6) Bake for 9 minutes (they will look underdone, but take them out and let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes)

7) Remove from pan and let them finish setting on a cooling rack

FROSTING:

8) While cookies are cooling, mixed powdered sugar with the juice of 1/2 a lemon

9) Add milk to mixture until frosting reaches a smooth consistency

10) Drizzle over cool cookies and top with remaining rainbow sprinkles

Anzac Biscuits

This week I am bringing you a very special recipe, given to me by my future father-in-law, that is full of sugar, stories and sweetness. Being a fellow craftsman in the kitchen I knew his recipe would be a keeper, but what I didn't know was that the story behind these cookies would be a recipe of wisdom in itself.

The Anzac biscuit might be a mystery to us Americans, but it's history to those with roots in Australia and New Zealand. This treat dates back to 1915 when the wives of soldiers in World War I made these cookies for their husbands to take on the road with them for sustenance (to read more about the meaning of Anzac Day and the story behind these treats, click here). What once started out as simple biscuit whose only function was a long shelf life, has now crossed generations to remain a sweet staple that not only tastes good but also delivers a piece of the past with every crunchy bite.

This biscuit is chock full of everything we love in the average cookie - oatmeal, coconut, butter and sugar - so read up, bake up and eat up this special new treat.

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats (not the instant variety)

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup coconut

1 tablespoon golden syrup (this ingredient is a bit hard to find...you can check your local grocery, order it over the internet or substitute it with light corn syrup and molasses in a 2 to 1 ratio)

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons boiling water

1 teaspoon baking soda

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees

1. In a large bowl, mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together - set aside

2. In a small sauce pan, melt butter and golden syrup together

3. While the butter mixture is melting, mix together boiling water and baking soda in a separate bowl

4. When butter mixture is melted, add the baking soda mixture and stir

5. Combine wet mixture with the dry ingredients by slowly pouring over the top of the dry mixture

6. Stir together with fork

7. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto greased or parchment lined cookie sheets about two inches apart (cookies will spread almost flat)

8. Bake in oven at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes

9. Cool on tray for a few minutes, then remove to cooling racks until transferring to air tight containers

Operation Chocolate Chip Cookies

This month of Operation Baking Gals fell right around the heartfelt day of Valentines and Team KelseyKakes took full advantage of sending all our love to the troops overseas. I had such a wonderful group this month stretching all the way from Alaska to New York City...that's a lot of baking mileage! These chefs went above and beyond for our sponsored troop of the month, Bryan Tull. 

SGT Tull is a broadcast journalist in the Army Reserves. His unit's primary mission is to work directly with members of the international media who visit Iraq to get the real story for audiences around the world. His unit also has a daily blog - Blogs Over Baghdad - that I encourage everyone to read, it will truly touch your heart. His job of maintaining the integrity of journalism is such an important one, as we all know that the information we have access to is a priceless tool for understanding what is really happening in our world. He is protecting our freedom of press and freedom of speech...and for that, we bake!

I was so inspired by SGT Tull and caught up in the moment of Valentines, that I decided what better a treat than to bake up the largest, most yummy batch of my famous chocolate chip cookies...with a lovely twist of red and white M&M's to replace the chocolate chips of course! These cookies are perfect for shipping to a troop or a crush because they contain a secret ingredient of instant vanilla pudding. Why pudding mix you ask? Well, adding instant pudding mix to your cookie dough prevents the delicious bites from getting stale and hard during shipping. These cookies will stay soft for weeks on end and remain perfect with every nibble to come.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter (at room temperature)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 package (3.4 oz.) instant pudding (I like vanilla)

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used valentines M&M's for this recipe)

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking soda - set aside

3. Using a stand mixer (or similar) cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar for about 2-3 minutes

4. Beat instant pudding mix 

5. Gradually stir in eggs and vanilla 

6. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend until just combined

7. Using a spatula, hand stir in chocolate chips and nuts

8. Drop cookies by rounded spoonful on baking sheet lined with parchment (or an ungreased cookie sheet)

9. Bake for 10-12 minutes...they will look undone, but set up once removed from the oven

*TIP: You can really make these cookies you own by changing the pudding mix flavor or your add-in ingredients. Have fun with it! 

Operation Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Operation Baking Gals round five was a November sensation. Woman from all over the US joined my team and came together, whisks in hand, to warm up their ovens in honor of our troop this month, Kevin Callen. Kevin is currently on his second service of duty in Iraq and was deployed on a few short days after his baby girl was born on September 15th. We were not only touched by Kevin's service in the marines, but by his endless dedication to his family and to the country we can all call home. In the Operation Baking Gals world, that is what we call a true hero.

It is needless say that we were truly inspired by Kevin this round and Team KelseyKakes really took off baking! We gathered around our cookbooks to make sure we sent over only the most heartfilled, home-inspired sweets that we could offer to our brave soldiers...and that counted for over 55 pounds of cookies this round! Wow.

Here is my personal batch of Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies:

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (I like to use 1/2 whole wheat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups of rolled oats (not the instant kind)

1 2/3 cup of butterscotch chips

Recipe

1. Heat over to 375 degrees

2. In a large bowl (or standing mixer), beat butter, sugar and brown sugar together until light and fluffy (apx. 2 minutes)

3. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well

4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt

5. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, stir until blended

6. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips by hand

7. Drop by tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheets

8. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes

9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool

It is an honor to host Operation Baking Gals each month, and it is even more awe inspiring to find myself increasingly touched and humbled by every round. My bakers out there are truley selfless women and each new month seems to bring on more team members, more cookies and more love and support that we then get to send across the ocean to our troops in Iraq.

I decided to be a part of Operation Baking Gals as a way to heal, gain strength and deal with the heartache of losing a best friend who lost his own life while stationed in Iraq...in turn I have found so much more than I could have ever asked for. I have found a therapy in people, in my oven and in friendships that exisit so selflessly in the support of others. I have found troops, from all over our country, that I get to share my love for baking along with the love for my country all in the same box. I have found hope, strength and frosting covered happiness. But most of all, I have found that if we can make one solider feel our support, our love and a little closer to home...if only for a day...then we have succeeded in a job well done.

As we enter round five, the Holiday Baking Round, I hope I get to share these feelings and simple joys with all of you. If you would like to join Team KelseyKakes in my surgar coated quest to support our troops, feel free to join my team here, or email me at kelseypm@hotmail.com.

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies!

Lets take a culinary adventure back to the delicious decade of 1990 and an obsession that was equally as mouthwatering as it was to-die-for tasty: chocolate marshmallow cookies and Valley River Mall. Most of you will not know Valley River Mall, but I bet you do remember the old cookie stands that were a regular fixture in the suburban shopping paradise...the cookies were big (so big) and our favorite was a chocolate comatose of rich cocoa, gooey marshmallows and a smothering of luscious, fluffy frosting.

Not only was this cookie experience so memorable because of the sugared goodness that I can still taste to this day, but more importantly because it was my sister's first introduction into why the world of baking is so much more that an Oreo. In our 7 year old world, these cookies were gold and our allowance was currency. My sister LOVED these and she I will credit as my inspiration in the quest at recreating the cookies from our childhood that have long been lost in shopping mall turnover.

Ingredients

1 box of chocolate cake mix (I like devils food)

1/2 cup of butter

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of pure vanilla

1 bag of large marshmallows (cut each marshmallow in half and set aside)

Chocolate frosting (you can make it or by it canned - one can will do for this whole recipe and its easy!)

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. With an electric mixer, cream butter (apx. 2 minutes)

3. Add cake mix, eggs and vanilla - mix until blended

4. Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet lined with parchment (I use a medium cookie scoop)

5. Bake @ 350 for 8- 9 minutes

6. Remove cookies from oven and quickly place 2-3 marshmallow halves sticky side down on top of the cookie

7. Place pan back in oven for 1 minute

8. Remove cookies again and use the back of a buttered spoon to lightly flatten and spread the melted marshmallow across the top of each cookie

9. Allow to cool and frost with the chocolate frosting, making sure to cover all the marshmallow

10. Eat, eat, and try to share :)

Cinnamon-Sugar Lavash Crackers

The September Daring Bakers challenge was a first for me as a newly appointed member of the monthly baking group...and what a first challenge it was. Straying away from the typical sweet tooth of challenges past, this month we were given the quest to make lavash crackers from our hosts Natalie of Gluten a Go Go and Shel from Musings from the Fishbowl (you can find their base lavish challenge recipe here). Now before you think that I have strayed from my sugar roots, I will have you know that I took their challenge and made it sweet! That's right, sweet, as in cinnamon-sugar crackers. And while they did taste yummy, I have to admit that I do not have a talent bone in my body for anything that has to do with yeast or bread dough. These were hard, seriously, and with the yeast I felt like I had no control. But, since the was my first challenge I decided not to get upset at not reaching perfection and to just enjoy the learning of kneading, rising and rolling!

But that's not all folks, they also gave us a second challenge this month which was a recipe all to our own...to create a dip that would compliment our delicious crackers. Sounds easy right? Wrong. This dip not only had to be tasty, but it also had to be vegan and gluten-free! Okay, okay, how hard can that be you ask? Well, when dipping in the sweet world, not much is made without butter and dairy. So, my first instinct was to go right for the honey jar. Sure, I couldn't make honey butter, but I knew I could make something lip smacking good, and I would have, only I just found out honey isn't vegan...ugh! 

After a few cups of coffee and a good long brainstorm, I had it. I would make raisin chutney. No animals, no wheat, just sweet raisins were involved here. So without further adieu, here is my raisin chutney recipe that was the perfect partner to my cinnamon sweet crackers.

Ingredients 

1 cup of raisins (soaked in hot water for 15 minutes before use)

2 tablespoons of hot water

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of sugar (or more to taste)

1/2 of a fresh lemon juiced (apx. 2 tablespoons)

Recipe

1. After raisins have been soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, drain

2. In a blender, combine all ingredients adding lemon juice last

3. Pulse until the ingredients have come together and the mixture has formed a course consistency

4. Dip away!

Sunflower Sunshine Cookies

Who knew sunflower butter could be so, YUM?

I was  a bit skeptical about giving this cookie of an experiment a try, but in the constant pursuit of a "better for you" treat I was lead down a very different path.  You see, these cookies stem from what I call 6 degrees of 'inspiration' (from my cookie that is)!

It all started with my girlfriend who is robbed of the deliciousness that is anything and everything baked with flour or gluten, so I knew these had to be gluten free.  This my friends, is a serious task. In my baking heart, I knew I was not yet ready to get involved with the alternative flour mixing magic that is a safe, gluten free blend...so I decided my little treat had to simply not include gluten at all. Well, if you have tried this before, you know that it pretty much leaves you with peanut butter cookies and macaroons.  So, armed with my basic peanut butter cookie recipe and a new carton of eggs, I was set to dig in to my Kitchen Aid mixer right when I arrived home from work.

But, where's the 6 degree twist you ask? Here it comes...

As I was ready to leave the office, groceries in tow, a girlfriend of mine was arriving back from the allergist..."allergic to peanuts". Seeing the desperate heartache in here eyes I knew I had to cheer her up through sugar on her tastebuds ASAP. My mission: these cookies now had to be nut free too, but how? Cue sunflower butter!

Many more degrees of inspiration came from aisle 6 at the local Whole Foods and before I knew it I was cutting and creating at top speed. The end result was delicious if not magnificent.  Not to mention the ridiculous amount of nutritional benefits sunflower butter has to offer, who knew?! 

So here they are...a little good for you, a little bad, a little sweet, a little salty...'little' however, does not preclude their wondrous flavor.

Ingredients

2 cups sunflower butter (stirred)

2 cups light brown sugar (optional - 2 cups white sugar and add 1 tsp molasses)

2 eggs (beaten) 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of cinnamon

2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 cup granulated sugar (on the side to roll dough in)

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a mixing bowl, combine sunflower butter, sugar and beaten eggs until combined

3. Add vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda and salt

4. Mix well

5. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and dip into granulated sugar

6. Place balls on foil/parchment paper lined baking sheet (if dough is too sticky, refrigerate for 30 minutes)

7. Using a fork, press balls slightly to make a classic crisscross pattern on the top

8. Bake for 9-10 minutes (until light brown)

9. Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack

10. Store in refrigerator, they will go bad if left at room temperature 

11. EAT!

*Makes 2 dozen

Operation Quick Bread Cookies

They say that home is where the heart is, and sweets are baked with love.  This morning, I found that to be my motto of the day as I stirred, mixed and scooped my way to the perfect cookie.  You see, today was my first official bake off with Operation Baking Gals  and I was baking for Staff Sergeant Daryl and his US Air Force team, so I wanted everything to be perfect. All I could think about is making a cookie that exemplified my heart and support for our troops in Iraq and the hope that the second they untied the meticulously wrapped brown paper box, I could feel the smiles from across the ocean.  

Backed with the support of my team, Hungry Fox, I grabbed my oven mitts, armed my self with my favorite Pottery Barn green spatula and hit the oven running. Today I decided that I would make something a little different than the average cookie, something fresh and light to get them through those hot summer days in the Iraq sunshine...this led me to a simple but tasty recipe I have had stacked in my recipe pile for ages from the Pillsbury website. With a few modifications, I think I have created the perfect, yet refreshing, cookie that will no doubt fill the bellies of our soldiers and  pile on the smiles. 

  

Cran-Orange Quick Bread Cookies

Ingredients

1 package Pilsburry Cranberry Quick Bread and Muffin Mix

3/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup sweetend dried cranberries

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

1/2 cup oil (I use a little less than 1/2c.)

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 eggs

Recipe

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a large bowl/standing mixer, combine quick bread mix, oats, coconut, cranberries and orange peel. Mix well.

3. To dry mixture, add oil, orange juice and eggs. Mix well.

4. Drop by heaping teaspoons (I used a medium sized cookie spoon) onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

5. Bake 10-13 minutes

6. Cool on wire rack

7. If desired, frost with basic powdered sugar glaze:

- 1/2 cup powdered sugar

- enough juice squeezed straight from the orange to make a glaze

- spoon over top of cooled cookies

*Makes 2-3 dozen

Variations: You can really use any flavor of quick bread mix, from pumpkin to lemon, and adjust the add-ins, like walnuts for cranberries or lemon zest for orange.

*In loving memory of Army Spc. Chase R. Whitham*

Breakfast Cookies

Contrary to the name of these cookies, they are quite far from a nutritionally sound breakfast! These breakfast cookies are formally known as Farm Cookies, a recipe my friends mother Sheila was so kind as to give me once we tried them during vacation at her house in South Carolina. The name has since morphed from her cookies into mine because of one small story that includes my boyfriend thinking that if you add "breakfast" in front of a dessert, it then becomes perfectly good to eat at 4:30 in the morning.

These make a lot, so make sure you share!

Ingredients

1 cup butter (at room temp)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups frosted flakes

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup coconut

1 cup pecans or walnuts

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 425 (ovens vary, so test from 400-425)

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until pale in color and totally blended

3. In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder

4. Blend in the dry ingredients in to the wet until fully incorporated

5. Last, carefully mix in the Frosted Flakes, oatmeal, coconut and nuts until just combined (be carful not to crush the cereal)

6. Roll dough into balls (or use a medium size cookie spoon) and press down to slightly flatten the dough

7. Bake for about 7-8 minutes, until golden brown

8. Cool on wire rack and enjoy them as fast as you can!

*Makes 4 1/2 dozen