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| Pretty and tooth-achingly sweet. |
Greetings! It has been quite a while since my last post. In fact, I have not posted since September, the first month of the school year in New York City. So it is somewhat apt (or at least telling) that my latest update since then is in June, the final month of the academic year. I have just finished my first year of teaching, and while the past nine months have been the most difficult and challenging of my life, I have never learned so much in so short a period a time. So consumed was I by this job that it was difficult for me to allocate time for personal, leisurely pursuits, such as maintaing this blog. Hence the excessively long hiatus. But I understand the importance now of designating time for activities that are non-work-related and am better prepared for next year. At least, I am optimistic. My biggest flaw is my inclination towards procrastination; how I waste time browsing the Internet or obsessively cleaning things when my time would be better spent tackling tasks related to work or focusing on my hobbies or honing skills. This is a personal flaw (for lack of a better word) that I am committed towards correcting.
So, speaking of school! The colorful cookies pictured above -- my slightly modified version of Sweet2EatBaking.com's recipe for
Funfetti Cake Batter Cookies -- were baked with love for my fifth period ELA students. They behaved so well during my final full-period observation for the year that I decided to reward them with a sweet homemade treat.
Like my students, these cookies are, well, as the name implies, "fun," and vivacious. It's hard to distinguish whether the cookies are so enjoyable because of their sweet components -- crunchy vanilla-rich cookie vehicle, creamy white chocolate chunky chips (MY addition), and brightly-hued sprinkles -- hitting all the right flavor spots or because of the fun, undeniably nostalgic nature of these components -- particularly the sprinkles. Either way, it's a damn good cookie. If I were to make one recommendation, it is to be certain that you don't over-bake them. Remove the cookies from the oven shortly after they begin to turn golden (that is unless you prefer hard cookies). This batch's only flaw, as I perceive it, was that they were too hard. However, this was easily remedied by briefly nuking the cookies, which lent them some softness (in addition to slightly melting the white chocolate chips!)
Here is the recipe, taken from Sweet2EatBaking.com with the only modification being the addition of white chocolate chips:
Funfetti Vanilla-Almond Cake Cookies with White Chocolate Chips
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1¼ cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 egg
2½ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
¼ cup corn starch
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup rainbow ‘jimmie’ sprinkles
2 tbsp rainbow ‘nonpareils’ sprinkles
1/4 cup of white chocolate chips (or mini-sized chunks)
Procedure:
1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2) Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Then, add the vanilla and almond extracts, and the egg. Beat these ingredients until they are well combined.
3) In a separate bowl, sift the flour, corn starch, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in sections, mixing using an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Lastly, add the sprinkles and white chocolate chips to the mix, and combine without utilizing the electric mixer or over mixing, as this will cause the sprinkles' colors to bleed.
4) Scoop cookie dough onto baking sheets, setting them approximately 1½ inches apart (8 cookies per sheet). Bake for approx 10-15 minutes or until a
very light golden brown colour.
5) Cool cookies. Store in an airtight container.
Serving Recommendation:
Serve the cookies warm paired with cold vanilla ice cream.
