September 2013 – Busy Lizzy Bakes

These Brown Butter Snickerdoodles are so good, I had to immediately pack them up and put them in my car, so that I would actually have a few left to take to the party that I made them for. Seriously, I have not crushed so hard on a cookie in a long time. This cookie is cool fall breezes, hot apple cider after apple picking, it is the first pumpkin carved for Halloween. It is delicious. These cookies are so good I want to write oodles of bad poetry to the hallowed combination of butter, cinnamon and sugar. These cookies are so good they make me sound like an overwrought Hallmark greeting card.

Slightly crunchy exterior, beautiful cinnamon sweetness, and big, wonderful, mouth filling butteriness. And if I could distill the intoxicating smell of these baking into a perfume, I would wear nothing else.

Did I even like snickerdoodles before today? Have I ever had one like this? I thought that snickerdoodles were dry, crumbly, flavorless, bland biscuits, so far below chocolate chip on my list of acceptable cookies that I usually skip them if offered one. But these though, are a revelation of all of the goodness that comes from a well made snickerdoodle.

This has been fun, but please excuse me while I go grab a cookie out of the trunk of my car. I may have to have my husband hide these someplace where I won’t find them. Like the next state over.

Next up: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

These little Orange Almond Ricotta Cheesecakes were extraordinary. Amazing recipe, and quite unlike anything I’ve had before. I normally loathe cheesecake, much to my husband’s puzzlement (and probably most of America, considering the popularity of dessert at the Cheesecake Factory). Something about cream cheese used in a sweet context throws me off. But ricotta…just wow, it makes for a light and custardy cheese cake. Combined with the amaretto and orange, it is a winning combination.I haven’t made a crust with graham crackers in a very long time. I usually try to find something suitable to substitute, vanilla wafers or chocolate cookies coming in handy for such purposes. But I saw these Almond Thins at Trader Joes and thought they could not be more perfect. I highly recommend them just to snack on really, they are crisp, buttery and with slices of almonds studded throughout.

I cut my recipe in half, and made them cupcake size. I actually do make a lot of cheesecake, since it is my husband’s favorite dessert. I almost alway cut the recipe in half and make single size portions, as I never plan on eating any. It’s really easy to do, the only essential is to use foil cupcake wrappers instead of paper, and bake for around 20 minutes.