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Disgust Your Guests With Brain Cookies

partysugar — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:15:08 -0700

Halloween is a great time to get creative with experimental baking. Take these cookies, for example: The dough is arranged in long tubes and shaped to look like a brain. You will need an entire bottle of food coloring to make the deep red blood glaze. If you don't like nuts or are allergic, simply omit them from the recipe. Normally I would never recommend grossing out your guests, but that is what Halloween is all about! To see how to make these mini brains, read more

Brain Cookies
From Emeril Lagasse

Brain Cookies:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup very finely chopped walnuts, or pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 5 drops red food coloring
About 9 drops blue food coloring
Blood Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
35 to 40 drops red food coloring
2 to 4 tablespoons milk, as needed for thinning glaze

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Into a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Alternating with the eggs, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating well after the addition of each. Fold in the nuts, vanilla, and red and blue food coloring, being careful not to overmix the dough. The food coloring will make the dough a grayish color, resembling the color of brains.
Place the dough in batches in a potato ricer and push the dough out onto the prepared baking sheets in long tubes of dough. With your fingers, loosely pat and arrange the dough strands into clumps resembling brains, pushing to form 2 hemispheres and shaping into a walnut-like shape. Bake until golden brown on the bottom, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To make the "blood glaze," in a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar with the food coloring to make a thick glaze, whisking together. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the glaze is a good consistency for drizzling.
Drizzle the "blood" onto the cookies and serve either warm or at room temperature.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

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A Month of Cookies Roundup

YumSugar — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:01:52 -0700

Last month was National Cookie Month and, in case you didn't know, we featured a different cookie recipe each day. If you missed any of them, then you're in luck, we've compiled them all for you right here. There were some basics like snickerdoodles and shortbread, but there were also some new finds like potato chip cookies. So check out the list - there are 32, one for each day and one extra! - and see what strikes your fancy!

15 Oatmeal Cookies Untainted By Raisins

YumSugar — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:00:21 -0700

I absolutely adore oatmeal cookies - as long as those pesky raisins stay the heck out of them. Strangely enough, it's really difficult to find oatmeal cookies without them. So, I've done us a favor and rounded up 15 raisin-less oatmeal cookies recipes. From lemon oatmeal to oatmeal animal crackers, there's something for everyone. Oh and if you're wondering why I've got oatmeal cookies on the brain, today April 30, is actually National Oatmeal Cookie Day. So what are you waiting for? Find a recipe to celebrate with, just click the "Start" button!

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Do Cookies Make You Shop?

YumSugar — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:14:18 -0800

The smell of a warm chocolate-chip cookie is enough to drive anyone crazy. The warm, sweet aroma permeates the brain and makes you forget everything else. At least, that's what a recent study for the Journal of Consumer Research has (sort of) concluded.

Research done by Xiuping Li of the National University of Singapore showed than when exposed to a hidden chocolate-chip cookie scented candle, female consumers were more likely to make an unplanned purchase - even those on a tight budget - than those exposed to a hidden unscented candle. In fact, it wasn't just a little more likely, it was a lot more likely. In the chocolate-chip cookie group, 67 percent of those purchased, while only 17 percent of the unscented group purchased.

Unsurprisingly, Li concludes:

If retailers want to push their customers to shop more rather than stay longer, they should not only maintain a pleasant environment but also an environment full of temptations and excitement.

So have you guys experienced anything like this? Do you think the smell of chocolate-chip cookies would affect your shopping habits? If not chocolate-chip cookies, then what food?

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