Hello again! Sorry for the prolonged bloggy-silence; I was trapped under a large stack of boxes. The whole moving gig took much more time and effort than I think is reasonable. Once I figure out who to complain to I am going to lodge a formal complaint! The good news is that we are nearly settled and unpacked. All I really need to do is to hang some artwork and put out the chotckies and then we're done. Then I can post photos of the new place so you can see what all of the hard work was for.
I also cooked in my new kitchen last night. The funny thing about the new kitchen is that it isn't nearly as updated and trendy as the old kitchen, but it's so much more functional. For example, granite tiles are a great idea until you try to knead dough on them and have to keep pulling dough out of the grout. In honor of the new kitchen (and the friends who came to celebrate the 4th with us) I did some baking. (I'll give you a minute to get up off the floor.) Since it's so unusual that I (a) baked and (2) followed the recipe almost exactly I thought I'd share it with you. (Besides these cookies are really good.) The original came from epicurious.com and as you can see, I only added a few more spices. According to the recipe one is supposed to get about three times more cookies than I managed, but I like my cookies Texas-sized.
Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies
For the cookies:
1 1/8 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp light brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 375. Spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray or line them with parchment paper. Beat together the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer (or a stand mixer) at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then the flour, salt spices, and baking soda and beat until just combined.
Drop the cookies onto the cookie sheets with at least 2" between each cookie. Bake the cookies for approximately 12 -16 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch. If you are using two cookie sheets, switch the position of the cookie sheets halfway though the cooking.
Move the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely. While the cookies are cooling whip together the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Ice the flat backs of the cookies and sandwich them together. An alternative method for serving the cookies would be to use ice cream (cinnamon or vanilla) as the filling for the sandwiches. Bon Appetit!
Makes 8 (large) cookie sandwiches
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