Spork or Foon?

TWD: Samoas Coconut Custard Tart

 
I remember memories of my childhood where I wished I was a Girl Scout.  Not because I wanted to wear the earth tone brown uniforms adorned with tens of merit badges awarding me for such accomplishments as successful knot tying, mind you, but because I wanted to sell Girl Scout Cookies.  I wanted to be the type of door - to - door sales girl that people were thrilled to see, as I toted around a bag filled with green boxes decorated with photos of smiling girls and delicious cookies.  Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Lemon Cream, even the boring Shortbreads were the items beloved by all, but my favorite were Samoas.  The chewy cookies covered in caramel and toasted coconut and drizzled with chocolate were a cookie-lover's dream.  

Unfortunately, as a child, I was... how do you say it nicely? Fat.  And if I was allowed boxes of cookies, you'd be sure that I'd eat them all and the only thing I'd have to show for it would be plenty of empty boxes and a hefty bill to the Girl Scouts.  

 

Maybe it was a better thing that I wasn't a Girl Scout. 

You can imagine the wheels that were turning when I decided to turn this coconut tart into a giant Samoa Cookie.  I recently saw a post on Baking Bites linking to YumSugar's take on Samoas, turning them into an ice cream treat.  I knew that Dorie's creamy coconut tart would have been a perfect drawing board to turn them into my favorite childhood treat.  

Instead of the Sweet Tart Dough, I used Dorie's Chocolate Tart Dough.  I kept the rest of the recipe the same, but I drizzled the top with both chocolate and dulce de leche atop the tart. 

 

This tart was HEAVEN.  Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight heaven.  The rich chocolate tart was the perfect vessel for the creamy, crunchy coconut custard, the pillowy whipped cream, and the delectable duo of caramel and chocolate. Incredible. And a fun little take on a classic cookie. 

Check out Beryl of Cinemon Girl for the recipe and check out the rest of TWD for more tarts! 

 

Mmmm... messy, delicious tart. 

TWD: Blueberry Honey-Wheat Cookies

 
 

This has been the longest winter in the history of man.  I just declared that. Call me Al Roker, your neighborhood weather(wo)man.

It seems every time I look out my window, I look through the endlessly falling snow towards a grey sky. Down below, the streets of Manhattan are covered with a salty, grey mush and at the end of each street corner is a pool of black water waiting to soak the feet of any poor soul that does not have experience long-jumping said puddles. 

It is miserable.  

Needless to say, I am ready for winter to end. I wrote a little Haiku for winter:

Winter, enough is enough. I say "Uncle".

Go away.

Isn't it time to head to Australia, or something?

That's what I like to call "Free-form Haiku".  I don't like stick to the 5-7-5 rule.

I'm tired of the heavy snow, the heavy clothes, and the heavy foods. I need some lightness in my life. So I want to kiss Michelle of Flourchild for this week's pick, Honey-Wheat Cookies.  These cookies are what I would call "lovely".  And I say lovely in a British regional accent (I'm not sure which one), because I love the way they call food lovely.  We Americans don't use the word lovely enough when commenting on food.  So you have to say it like this:

"Lohv-leigh".

If any of you watch Last Restaurant Standing on BBC America, you'll know what I mean. 

These cookies were light and airy, almost cake like.  The soft, sweet nuanced flavors of honey are enhanced bright lemon flavor and the the cake-like texture of the cookie has a wonderful bite due to the addition of wheat germ. I added some $21-a-pound dried blueberries to the cookies, making these the most expensive cookies in the history of the world, to go along with the longest winter in the history of the world. But they were the perfect addition.  Soft, sweet and chewy, these added the perfect textural contrast to the pillowy cookies. Finally, I topped the cookies with a sweet lemon glaze and smiled with thoughts of spring as I took a bite. 

Check out Michelle's page for the recipe and click here to see the rest of TWD!  

TWD: Rice Krispie Treat Chocolate Chip Cookies and I MET DORIE!

These chocolate chip cookies were great.  Making these were interesting, as I was able to taste the real thing made by the original author the very same day. Hers were better. More on that later.

I wanted to do something different with these cookies and I thought, "Why not Rice Krispie Treat cookies?" I felt the batter was kind of thin, so I added 1/4 cup of flour, 1/2 cup Rice Krispies, and 1/2 cup of marshmallows.  They were definitely a lot of fun to eat. The marshmallows caramelized and added a great, chewy texture, and there definitely were some fun snap, crackle, pop moments as I crunched down on the Rice Krispies. Thanks to Kait of Kait's Plate for choosing this great recipe! Click here for the recipe and check out the rest of TWD here!

On to the good stuff. 

I MET DORIE!  Friday afternoon, I headed over to the Mizu Salon over on 59th and Park, walked in, and almost fainted from excitement. There she was.  My baking idol.  We made eye contact and she smiled. Did she recognize me? I thought.  I shook it off. No, that's impossible. 

 

After a few minutes (the line was crazy long) my turn arrived. 

"Dorie?" I said, tentatively.

"Hi!" She greeted me warmly, but looked deeply at me as if she were trying to remember a familiar face. "Tell me your name."

"I'm Teanna. I'm part of your baking group. Spork or Foon?"  

God, I'm such a dork, I thought.  I ASKED the name of my blog.  Like I wasn't sure of it. Get a grip, woman! 

"YES!"  She exclaimed.  "I thought it was you when you walked in.  You do such beautiful stuff!"  

WHAAAAAAAA? I thought to myself. She knows who I am!? The Great Dorie Greenspan?

HOLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAA!

She hugged me and planted a kiss on my cheek.  I secretly hoped her lipstick had left an impression on my cheek, for I would wear it around the city proudly that day (it didn't).

 

We spoke for a few more minutes as she put together my order: one of everything.  She had run out of the World Peace Cookies, the ones I was most excited for, but I had figured those would probably have sold out first (I arrived 2 hours after opening). I was giddy as we chatted. I couldn't get my thoughts out clearly. It was like it was 1985, she was Michael Jackson and I was a 15 year old girl. I wanted to scream, cry, pass out, and be dragged out by security. 

  
I took a photo with Dorie as the line grew longer and the inventory shrunk.  I was deliriously happy.  I walked out, with a box filled with Coconut Lime Shortbreads, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sables, Peanut Butter Cookies, Molasses Spice Cookies, Chocolate Chunkers, and Espresso Shortbread Cookies. I skipped down into the subway and replayed the past 15 minutes in my head as an enormous smile tattooed itself on my face for the next few hours. 

 

We're a lucky bunch. We get to bake together, each week, inspired by each other's stories and experiences.  But what is most amazing is that the author of the book that brought us all together is so involved in our community.  If I had a question, I could Tweet Dorie and receive a response immediately.  I had a problem with my sables, and Dorie commented with a lengthy explanation as to what could have been the problem. She KNEW WHO I WAS WHEN I MET HER. She reads our blogs. She comments. She loves us all. And she is the sweetest woman I have ever met.  Seriously.  She was so happy to meet each and every person who walked into the cookie bar.  It was as if we were all old friends and were at a reunion together, happy to see each other after so many years. 

Oh, and speaking of Sables, this was Dorie's Sable.

 

And these were mine. 

Oof, I have some practicing to do. 

  
 

TWD: Dark-Chocolate Mini Heart Cake Filled with Chocolate Covered Raspberries

 
 

I was really excited to see that Kristin of I'm Right About Everything chose Milk Chocolate Mini-Bundt Cakes for this week's TWD mainly for one reason: it gave me an excuse to by a new cake pan. 

Unfortunately, I am never able to stick to the plan when it comes to shopping for food, cooking, or baking supplies. 

I often beg Jack to come to the supermarket with me whenever I need to go food shopping.  But Jack, who often works 70-80 hour weeks, could think of a million other things he'd rather do with his free time.  I try to explain that I need someone to reign me in. Someone to tell me that I don't need to buy the guava flavored panda bears that I will never eat because I don't eat candy but feel that I HAVE to have because they interesting, and really, who wouldn't eat guava flavored panda bear gummies (besides me because, you guessed it... I don't eat candy)? 

I go in with a list of four things, I come out spending over $100.

So when I went down to the Baker's Supply store on 6th Avenue and 23rd Street, I had two things in mind:  heart shaped cookie cutters for Valentine's Day and a mini-bundt pan.  One hour and much-more-money-than-I-wanted-to-spend later, I walked out with 3 different sparkling sugars, colored gels, a mini-heart-shaped springform pan, fleur de lis and horseshoe cookie cutters (for the Super Bowl) and a football cake pan (again for the super-bowl).  What was missing?

Heart shaped cookie cutters and a mini-bundt pan. 

This is why, my friends, you see this mini-cake before you.  I made some slight changes to the recipe.  The original cake recipe called for milk chocolate as opposed to dark (I'm a chocolate snob and milk chocolate tastes like nothing to me) and cocoa-covered walnuts swirled throughout the batter. I hate nuts in cakes and brownies so that is a double no for me. Instead, I dropped chocolate covered raspberries in the batter and baked away. 

I then frosted the cake with a raspberry buttercream frosting, covered it with my fondant and rolled the cake in a bit of sanding sugar.

The cake was good, but I think it was because of my changes (toot, toot to my own horn). I liked the deep chocolate flavor that the other TWDers said the cake was lacking because of the milk chocolate, and the bits of gooey chocolate covered raspberries added a nice surprise and definitely played a part in the moistness of the cake which, otherwise, was a tad dry. The raspberry buttercream added a nice sweetness and smooth texture, while the marshmallowy fondant (which I love) and the sanding sugar added some playful textural contrast. 

Overall, it was a fun cake to make, although I probably won't use this recipe again.  And for some reason, I must be cursed because none of my other photos will upload!  I shake my fist at you, Typepad blogging platform! 

 Check out the rest of TWD and check out Kristin's site for the recipe! 

TWD: Cocoa-Nana Brownies

 
 

It's the first time in a very long time where I've played around with one of Dorie's recipes, which must mean I'm feeling back to my old self again after a crazy few months.  

I woke up this morning (hi, I'm Slacker, nice to meet you) and the first thing I thought was: Cocoa-Nana Brownies.  

Ah, the mind of a food blogger. 

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of brownies.  My father is a huge fan of boxed-mix brownies, and the smell of those chemical-laden brownies wafting through the air always slightly wanted to make me vomit. But I truly believed the only way to make brownies was to pour a mystery mix into a bowl, add eggs or oil or something, mix and bake.  And try to hold dinner down. 

Years later, when I finally learned that I need not be a slave to Duncan Hines, I tried to make my father "cakey" brownies from scratch.  Even though brownies are not my favorite treat, I was extremely pleased with how these brownies turned out.  I proudly presented one to my dad.

He took a bite and silently chewed.

"Well?"  I asked in anticipation. "How are they?"

He nodded.  

"What does that mean?" I asked, getting impatient. "Do you like them?"

He looked at me with the eyes of a five-year old kid.  "I like box brownies." he said, innocently.

I threw up my hands in frustration. "You're gross!  That makes me want to puke!"

Now who is the five-year old kid?

But I do believe that I would win over that box-mix fan with these Cocoa-nana brownies. I combined Dorie's Cocoa-Nana bread recipe with King Arthur Flour's brownie recipe. The result is an incredibly light, sky-high cake brownie studded with chocolate chunks that is incredibly moist with a slight tang from the buttermilk, a far-away, deep caramel flavor from the brown sugar and a hint of banana and topped with a smooth chocolate ganache. These brownies definitely don't make me want to puke. 

Yummy.

Check out Steph of Obsessed with Baking's website for the recipe for her extremely popular choice (the actual Cocoa-Nana Bread) and check out the rest of TWD for some more Cocoa-Nana Bread! No puking! 

Cocoa-Nana Brownies adapted from Dorie Greenspan: Baking from My Home to Yours and King Arthur Flour

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 1/4 cups Dutch Process cocoa

1 tablespoon vanilla

5 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour

2 medium, very ripe banans
1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Lightly great a 9 x 13 pan. Set aside. 

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add in cocoa. Beat in vanilla, then beat in eggs, one by one. Beat in baking powder and salt (making sure baking powder is dissolved), then add in buttermilk. When smooth, lower speed to low and add flour and stir just until blended. Add chocolate chips if using.

Pour into pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Let cool. Frost brownies when cool.

Chocolate Ganache 

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter

Place chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter and cream over medium heat, stirring constantly. When mixture is almost boiling, pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 30 seconds. Then, stir until smooth.

Pour ganache over cooled brownies and spread evenly.

Allow ganache to firm before cutting brownies. Brownies may be placed in refrigerator to expedite this.

TWD: Mrs. Vogel's Scherben

 
Let me start off this post by saying I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for picking a recipe that worried so many people this week.  

People were scared. Look at the P&Q for this week on the Tuesdays with Dorie web page. You'll find words like "scared", "concerned", "nervous", "I'm-not-cool-with-grease-fires".

I felt bad.  I knew I should have went with the Hidden Berry Torte!  I needed a crowd pleaser! Not something that will scare people away! Actually, when I chose this recipe, I wrote, "I hope people don't hate me!"

But I wanted something different!  I wanted to choose that little recipe that probably gets passed over day after day in home kitchens across the world! I know this may not be something simple.  I know we don't want fires in our kitchens.  But It's FRIED DOUGH. What's not to like?  What's a better way than to break your post holiday detox with FRIED DOUGH?  We all knew it was going to happen sooner or later.  It's just that this time, it's sooner. (Sorry to anyone doing the Ten in 10 challenge! You can take one little bite!)

When it comes down to it, I chose this recipe for six reasons:

1.  FRIED DOUGH. 

2. I felt like it may have been the lone recipe that would not have been chosen until week 360.  I felt bad for it. 

3.  It actually is very simple to throw together.  The only ingredients are flour, butter, baking powder, water, sugar, and salt.  Every member of TWD already has those ingredients stocked en masse. 

4. One bowl. No appliances. 

5.  When you Google the word "Scherben", not much comes up besides an IMDB link to a movie from 1921.  We can change the world, TWDers. We can introduce "schreben" to the masses.

6.  FRIED DOUGH. 

So thanks to everyone who hunkered down and baked fried along with me this week.  And special thanks to Caitlin of Engineer Baker for helping to quell some baker's fears about frying the scherben by finding an appropriate baking solution that gets great results!  

These cookies are crispy, delicious, and fun to eat.  They are different, and I like that.  For being fried, they are surprisingly light and not greasy at all.  They remind me more of sweet versions of those wonton crackers you get at Chinese food restaurants that you sprinkle over the soup rather than a heavy zeppole (the big, Italian fried dough balls of my youth).  I both baked and fried them.  The fried ones puffed up more, but the baked ones were equally crispy and delicious. And they are completely addictive.  You have a scherben one minute, the next thing you know, you've eaten 12 more and you're like, "Oh man, I just ate 12 fried cookies."

Keep on eating (healthy.  After you try these Schreben, that is. GOOGLE IT!).

Mrs. Vogel's Scherben

Combine 1 tbsp. butter with a big pinch of sugar and a little pinch of salt. 

 

Cream them together until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

 

Add the egg and beat.

Gah! It's curdled! 

Just kidding, that's totally cool. Keep going.

 

Add the flour.

 

...and mix until most of the dough is moistened.

 

Add some water...

 ... and stir until the dough comes together.

Gather the dough and lightly knead until the dough is just smooth can comes together (this dough is very sticky. You may need to add more flour to work with it).

Refrigerate for one hour.

Remove dough from refrigerator and cut in half. 

 On a well-floured surface, roll the dough out to a rectangle shape, roughly 12 x 8".

My dough kind of looks like a tooth.

Slice dough in 1-inch segments.

Cut strips in half.

Cut a 1 1'2" slit lengthwise in each piece.

 

Layer in a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap (single layers, plastic wrap between each layer).

 
Refrigerate for 1 hour.

 
Fry the dough in 4" of hot oil (350F) until nicely golden brown on each side.

Or you can bake the dough at 400F for 12 minutes until golden brown and crisp (thanks, Caitlin!)

Drain on a paper towel and dust with cinnamon sugar.

Dust the scherben with confectioners' sugar and enjoy fried...

 

...or baked!

 
 

Mrs. Vogel's Scherben from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

Big pinch of sugar

Little pinch of salt

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3-4 tablespoons hot water

Cinnamon sugar and confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Flavorless oil, such as canola or sunflower, for deep frying

Working in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon or a large rubber spatula, beat the butter, sugar and salt until smooth and creamy.  Add the egg and beat - the mixture will look curdled, but that's ok.  Mix the flour and baking powder together and pour them into the bowl, then stir until most of the flour is moistened.  The dough will look like coarse, clumpy meal.  Add 3 tablespoons hot water and continue to stir until the dough comes together.  If you've still got dry portions, sprinkle over a little more water.  Keep stirring - you'll have a moist dough that might be a bit shaggy. 

Reach into the bowl and knead the dough just until it smooths out and comes together. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour. (The dough can be kept in the refrigerator overnight if it's more convenient.)

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Cut the dough in half.  Working with one half at a time, on a well-floured surface, and keeping both sides of the dough floured, roll the dough into a very thin rectangle - try to make it about 12 x 8 inches, but don't worry if it's not the right size or if it's lopsided; scherben can be any size, and shape.  If you keep the work surface well floured and turn the dough so it's not sticking and so you're rolling on both sides, you'll find that it is very easy to roll and that you can roll it paper thin.  Mark off 1-inch strips with a ruler and cut the strips with a pastry wheel or pizza cutter - using a zigzag pastry wheel makes pretty cookies.  Cut the strips crosswise in half, then, using a small knife, cut a lengthwise slit about 1 1/2 inches long in each strip. Place the strips on the lined baking sheet and cover them with another piece of plastic wrap.  Roll and cut the other half of the dough and lay those cookies over the first batch.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (If it's more convenient, these can stay in the fridge for a day.)

GETTING READY TO FRY:  Line a baking sheet with a triple thickness of paper towels and put it close to the stove. Fill one sugar duster or strainer with cinnamon sugar and another with confectioners' sugar.  Pour at least 4 inches of oil into a deep saucepan (or use an electric deep-fryer) and heat the oil to 350 degrees F, as measured on a deep-fat-frying thermometer.

Drop 4 to 6 strips into the pan (don't crowd the pan) and fry until the undersides are golden, then turn and fry the other sides;  each batch will take 2 to 3 minutes.  Lift the cookies out of the oil on a perforated skimmer, allowing excess oil to drip back into the pan, then turn the cookies out onto the baking sheet to drain.  Put in another batch to fry, and while they are frying, turn the cookies that are draining so the other sides can drain.  Then, while the cookies are still hot and slightly damp from the oil, dust both sides with cinnamon sugar.  Continue until all the dough is fried.

Just before serving, dust the scherben with confectioners' sugar. 

TWD: Cocoa Buttermilk Cake with Mocha Buttercream - TWD's Second Anniversary!

 

Before I write anything, I just want to congratulation all of the TWD bloggers for creating 2 years worth of amazing desserts!  Our waistlines may not be better for it, but our skills in the kitchen are!  Thank you so much to Laurie of Slush for starting and maintaining this site for all of us! 

Look at this! I'm finally posting TWD on a Tuesday! I think life is getting back to normal! Hallelujah! Where's the Tylenol?

I decided to go with the buttermilk cake because I'm in a cake mood lately, after my first successful cake covered in fondant!  Also, I need to make things that I can give away because I don't want unhealthy food around, and a tarte tatin is not the easiest thing to give away (but WOW do I feel like I'm missing out on an amazing dessert!).

Making the cake went off without a hitch.  The batter was more like a frosting, so I was a bit nervous that I did something wrong.  Nonetheless, it was delicious and I couldn't stop eating it. I fully stick to the belief that calories don't exist when it's batter, therefore, I do not need to count them. 

I read on the TWD P&Q JKLMNOP page that some people found this cake to be on the dry side.  And they were right. The cake had more of a cake-brownie-like texture to it.  But it was nothing a little simple syrup couldn't fix.  

I also read that the texture of the frosting was a bit... grainy.  Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm not a grainy frosting fan. I decided that I wanted to do a mocha buttercream and found this buttercream on Zoe Bakes which she called Outrageous. 

Outrageous it WAS. The buttercream is actually made with egg yolks and whole eggs as opposed to egg whites, and the result is a buttercream that is light as air with a feel similar to chocolate mousse.  The chocolate and espresso flavors just float off of your tongue. 

To me, this frosting made the cake.  The cake, with the addition of the simple syrup was moist and chocolately and worked perfectly with the pillowy buttercream.  Definitely a winner, in my book.

Let me let you in on a little secret. Notice how the cake is slightly lopsided?  That's because when I picked up one of the cake layers, it collapsed in my hand (it may have still been slightly warm).  I put it back together, but filled in the parts that didn't make it with buttercream. I apologize to whomever at Jack's office get's the buttercream slice tomorrow.

Check out Zoe Bakes for the buttercream recipe with fantastic step-by-step instructions and check out the rest of TWD for their Anniversary Desserts and Laurie's Page for the recipe! 

 

TWD: Cafe Volcano Cookies

 

I'm making the pecan pie tonight and will post it tomorrow. I'm hearing it's amazing, so I'm excited for this one!  For now, I'm rewinding to last week's Cafe Volcano cookies, chosen by MacDuff of Lonely Sidecar.

Since my life has been consumed by cookies the past month, my eating habits have changed drastically.  I feed only on cookie dough these days.  And when you live a life only tasting dough all day, no other food is appealing to you. I'll think to myself, "Hey, I'll make some egg whites for breakfast." Then, another voice in my head says, "No, I'll just have a piece of cookie dough."  "But what about those surprisingly delicious raspberries you picked up at the store?" "Nah, I need some chocolate." "How about a delicious piece of baked salmon and some quinoa?" "SUGAR COOKIES!"

So, it's nice to just skip the butter and the flour with these cookies and go straight to the sugar. And these are the best mound of sugar I've ever eaten. I want to kiss MacDuff for picking such an easy recipe. And seriously, Dorie, I love you. How do you think of such things?  Throw egg whites, nuts, and a ton of sugar in a pan with some espresso powder, stir for 30 seconds and bake?  Holla!

Click here for the recipe and click here to see some amazing praline pies!

TWD: The Ugliest Sables in All the Land

Sables.  Why must they torment me so?

They are little medallions of pure cookie bliss.  When made correctly, they appear to be oh-so-beautiful and dainty.

So, why, oh why, after chilling in the freezer for 2 days, do they come out looking like this?

I know that many a-food blogger will comment on a less-than picture perfect dish and say "Well, it's not winning any beauty contests."  But mine go above and beyond not winning beauty contests.

You know the treasured community chest card in Monopoly that reads: "You just won second place a beauty pageant! Collect $20"? When you pull this card, you first joke around and talk about how pretty you are (you don't do that? Is it just me?) and then curse the person who beat you out. Then you wonder what kind of cheap-ass beauty pageant only awards $20?

Well, if there was a card that says, "You just got hit with the ugly stick!  You owe the hospital $200.", these cookies would be sure to pull that card.

Sure, I could have prettied it up with sprinkles and decorations, but I have been doing this and frankly was not in the mood. Yes, I burned the edges. And please, if you leave a comment saying "They look good to me!", I'll know that you are just being nice and you don't really mean it. But I appreciate the kind words. Thank you.

But they do taste good. Minus the ugly looks, they are perfectly buttery, with a slightly sandy texture that is a pleasure to eat.  I was sure to work with an even hand and not to overwork the delicate dough.  I rolled my logs using a Chopin piano pieces book, hoping that his grace would rub off on my cookies. But alas, I was left with strange shaped, burned cookies.  Deliciously, oddly shaped, burned cookies.

Check out Barbara of Bungalow Barbara for the recipe and check out the rest of TWD for some 1st place winners in the beauty pageants. I'd award them $100. Because I'm nice like that. And I'm the banker. 

TWD: Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies with Spiced Cream Filling

You know those commercials with two people sitting around a table, racing to see which one eats the Oreo filling the fastest? That was me.  And I was racing against myself. To eat all of the Oreo filling I could in one sitting.  It was sad.

Once, when I was studying abroad in London, I ate a whole sleeve of Oreos one night.  Needless to say, I was very sick after that. 

Oddly enough, I never liked Double Stuffed Oreos.  There was just too much filling-to-cookie ratio.  Nabisco let me down on that one, but, I am sure, made other filling-lovers very happy. 

Alas, my Oreo eating days are gone and have been replaced by raspberries, blueberries, and grapes.  And I even feel bad about eating grapes because I know they are high in sugar.  And the only races I run now are again, against myself... but this time to beat my time per mile when I am running.  

I hate being healthy. 

But these cookies brought me back to my youth a little bit.  Pamela of Cookies with Boys chose these Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies and I immediately thought back to my sandwich cookie days.  I made a cream filling and added cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon for a little cookie magic.  I wanted to add orange zest, but I didn't have any on hand, and I was too lazy to walk out of my door and one block down to the supermarket. 

Hey, I'm tired. I just moved. 

Even without the orange, this filling is delicious and fits oh-so-well with the delicious, chewy, molasses spiced cookies.  The range of textures is outstanding:  the crunch of the sugar, the crisp edges of the cookies, the soft-pillowy feeling of the interior of the cookies, and the creamy filling make one dynamic cookie.  

I think Nabisco has some competition.

Click here for the recipe and check out the rest of TWD!