Try It Tuesday - Coco-Doodles Cookie Recipe

Coco-Doodles!

Coconut Snickerdoodles!  

Instead of rolling in cinnamon sugar, you use coconut and some sparkling sugar!

This could be a contender for Christmas Cookie 2014.   I thought/hoped the coconut would look a little bit "snowy," though I am tempted to also roll them in some red and green jimmies, too.
Next time, I might sub out some (a 1/4 cup perhaps first try?) of the flour for the Trader Joe's Coconut Flour!

INGREDIENTS

1½ cups sweetened shredded coconut - look for the "Fancy" kind, it is a finer and smaller shred and

you can skip a step in the preparation
1 cup shortening
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Sparking sugar, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2) In a high-speed blender or food processor, pulse coconut until finely shredded. Pour into a shallow bowl. Set aside.  (I skipped this step)
3) In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
4) Add  dry ingredients into a medium bowl. Add to creamed mixture; mix until just combined.
5) Roll dough into 1" balls  Roll in the coconut. (add sparkling/sanding sugar, if you want)  Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
6) Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges and just barely set in the center.

Remove to wire racks to cool.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Pastels

This past Tuesday I was very fortunate to get a seat in the Pearl Museum Art Workshop "Pastels Explored" with Linda Dellandre.  I have never worked with pastels before.  I had a couple of boxes in my studio, unopened/unused, which I had bought on sale/clearance in hopes of using them someday.  And that day arrived!  Linda explained her techniques very well, including some very good advice I can use with other art mediums -- not being afraid of a variety of colors to obtain the value and creating Notans (here's a good link explaining what Notans are - bonus if you like cats).  I found a sheet of the paper she recommended at Hobby-Lobby ($2.69 before the 40% off coupon!) so I can play and explore with pastels some more.

Update 9-26-14 - At the last minute, I tossed this into my bag and entered it in the Fort Bend County Fair and it won a blue ribbon!

Reality Bites

What it is supposed to look like!

This is the recipe I saw on page 75 when I bought the new Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast 24/7 cookbook the other day at Costco.

Step 1:  Don't use French bread the recipe calls for and instead bolillo buns.
Trim off tops and bottoms and think this is a good substitute.  Pat self on back for using a couple of whole wheat ones!

Oops!

Step 2:  Quick, think!  BAKED French/Bolillo Toast!
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, until slightly crunchy on top.

Her heart is in the right place!

Step 3:  Top with remaining apples and sauce.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar (just like the cookbook picture, which is the only resemblance to the pictured recipe) and eat!

Ready to eat!

Overall, a great save.  I will probably purposefully make it this way again.  Especially in the Chantal heart-shaped baker, I think it actually looks pretty.  And delicious!

CINNAMON APPLE STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

Cinnamon apple filling
4 (1 ounce) slices diagonally cut French bread, about 1" thick
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
cooking spray
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1.  Prepare cinnamon apple filling.
2.  Cut a horizontal slit through the side of each bread slice to form a pocket.  Stuff 3 tablespoons cinnamon apple filling into each pocket.
3.  Place milk, vanilla and egg in a shallow dish; stir with a whisk until blended.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.
4.  Dip each side of stuffed bread in egg mixture to coat.  Add stuffed bread to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar, top evenly with remaining filling.

Calories 230, fat 7.9g (sat 4.2g, mono 2.2g, poly 0.7g), protein 6.2g, carb 34.6, fiber 2.2g, chol 69mg, iron 1.4mg, sodium 259mg, calcium 73mg 

Cinnamon Apple Filling

2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped unpeeled Gala apple (4 small)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add remaining ingredients, saute' 3 minutes or until apples are golden.
Serving size 5 tablespoons

Calories 115, fat 5.9g (sat 3.7g, mono 1.5g, poly 0.2g), protein 0.2g, carb 16.9g, fiber 1.5g, chol 15mg, iron 0.2mg, sodium 44mg, calcium 16mg