Oh my Cookies!

I really do love to bake and cook even though I could definetely use some more practice! Just the other day I decided to try a new recipe. Kinship Cookies. They are supposedly very similar to cookies made by the early Pagans in Germany that were small cookies often shaped like animals. Possibly the roots of our modern day animal crackers.

This recipe calls for 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind and 2 tablespoons grated orange rind. Now this was no fun task! The only thing I had to finely grate peels was this silly little cheese grater my mother gave me years ago and I have never used! Well I am happy to have found it has a purpose.



Poor little naked fruits have lost their peels! :)



4 eggs as the only liquid in these cookies.



Your supposed to beat the eggs till fluffy. My son helped me with this (he loves to cook!). :)




Now for some sugar, 2 cups to be exact.



That's alot of freakin' sugar! Look past the white coated counter tops... I had made pizza dough before this and when you cook the kitchen isn't clean! At least not with me!

Add the sugar to the eggs...



Mmmmm sugared eggs.... :s

Now 2 cups of flour. Did I say 2? It was supposed to be 3.. Explanation below. The funny things that happen while cooking with your children while taking photo's and getting distracted!




A half of a teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking powder into the flour. Where'd the baking powder pic go? Beats me!



Mix the grated lemon and orange rind into the eggs and sugar.



In with the flour, baking powder and salt!



I love my little boys cooking hands. :)

Now you were supposed to mix this all together till smooth then place in the fridge for an hour (covered). Well I took out the "dough" which looked like goop! Something was wrong there was no way you could use cookie cutters with this stuff! And the recipe calls for using cookie cutters. I looked back at the recipe and realized I left out a cup of flour... I filled my 2 cup measuring cup but forgot to add in another cup. Grrr

So I added another cup mixed it up and hoped it would be salvageable. Stuck it the fridge for another 20 min or so and pulled it out again. Well guess what? Not goopy any more but still WAY to sticky for cookie cutters. Darn.

I was now supposed to be able to roll a 1/3-inch thick piece of dough out on a sugared surface and cut into shapes. Then place on greased cookie sheets, sprinkle anise seed on them (just realized I forgot those too! Ahhh!)then cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. I tried rolling out a piece of it on the floured counter for the heck of it, and had to scrape it off.

So I just stuck the whole darn bowl in the fridge and waited 24 hours. I thought maybe I'd have a chance to use the cookie cutters at the end... But of course the dough was way to sticky still so I just scooped it out in "balls" onto the cookie sheets and baked them like the recipe said (325 until lightly browned around the edges. Said about 20 min but 15 was better in my oven).

At the point when I found the goop in my fridge I had completely forgotten to finishing taking pics. I guess being a mom to a 1 month old and a 4yr old has given me "mom brain" for the time being!

The cookies ended up having a really nice flavor but I was really disappointed by the whole thing. I wonder if the batter would have come out better if I hadn't messed up. But I highly doubt it would have been any less sticky.

Not really sure why I ended up blogging about a not so great recipe turnout. But hey, at least I'm honest and not pretending to be Martha Stewart here! I do have to say even though they weren't perfect my family did gobble them up.

I decided to take a picture last second before they went to the party in someones tummy. :)