Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookies

I'm sure many of you've seen these cookies by the front entrance of Wal-Mart or near the bakery section of Costco. These cookies are called Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookies, and they are beyond delicious and comforting.
If you're not familiar with these cookies, the cookie part has a very cake-like texture (even the batter looks like cake batter) with a sweet, buttercream frosting on top. The cookie part is not particularly sweet, so you get most of the sweetness from the frosting.

The underside of the cookie is perfect.

I'm not a creative, fanciful person, so it was hard to make these cookies look decent enough for this post. Although not perfect-looking aesthetically, they taste wonderful. They are very soft and sweet.

They taste close enough to the real Lofthouse sugar cookies that you won't have to buy them in the stores anymore. I made quite a few changes to the original recipe after reading through many comments I found on various websites for copycat Lofthouse cookies, so you won't have to do any of the research yourself!

Also, I used a 4-inch cookie cutter after rolling out the dough because I wanted big, thick cookies instead of the traditional 2.5-3-inch size. I think these cookies would be perfect for the holidays. Be more creative than I am by coloring the frosting different colors.
NOTE: I don't recommend making these cookies the same day you want/need them because you will have to refrigerate the dough for 6-8 hours or overnight.

Lofthouse Cookies

adapted from Recipezaar

For 4-inch cookies, you will end up with two dozen cookies. So, if you make 2 1/2 - 3-inch cookies, you should end up with about 3-4 dozen cookies.

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar (in my halved version, I added 2 Tbsp (1/4 cup for full version) EXTRA of sugar to make the cake part a tad sweeter)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups sour cream
5-6 cups AP flour, until desired consistency for rolling (in my halved version, I used 2 1/2 cups in the dough and then added about half a cup more of flour while rolling out the dough)

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients.

Cover and refrigerate overnight (or 6-8 hours).

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Roll out dough to a 1/4 to 3/8 inch thickness using a generous amount of flour (I used a combination of flour and powdered sugar for a non-stick surface and flavor). Cut out shapes, and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8 minutes.

Cool on wire rack. Frost (recipe below), and decorate as desired.

Lofthouse Cookie Frosting
adapted from Recipezaar

Yields enough for 2 dozen cookies, so double the recipe, if you need more.

3 1/2 - 4 cups confectioners' sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
1/2 cup shortening
5-8 Tbsp (or more) evaporated milk (or regular milk), until you reach the desired consistency
1 tsp vanilla extract
food coloring (optional)

In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the evaporated milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

Meatballs

I apologize for the photos. I'm still trying to figure out how to operate my camera and lens correctly...

Barbara from Barbara Bakes asked me a question that had been burning my brain for a few days now. It was such a simple, innocuous question, but it did intrigue me. After making the homemade Italian rolls and Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches, she asked me, "What are your plans for the other loaves?"

I didn't know what I was going to do with them until I decided to make meatballs. I searched on Google for a new recipe to try that was different from others I've tried and found one on allrecipes.com.

Instead of using store-bought breadcrumbs, I used a food processor and crumbled half of one of the two, leftover loaves of bread that had been sitting in the refrigerator and added it to the meatball mixture. After making the meatballs, I decided to make a meatball sandwich with the other bread loaf.

I placed freshly-sliced provolone (pronounced [pro-vo-LOW-neh], based on U.S. English pronunciation) on top of the meatballs. The sandwich was good, but the bread to meat ratio was off with the former being much thicker and pronounced than the meat.

The next day, I accompanied the leftover meatballs with a marinara sauce using a brand I'd never heard of called Pomì that my friend had found in Wal-Mart. I then poured the delicious meatball sauce on top of store-bought spaghetti. I took one bite, and I was smitten. This was seriously the best spaghetti and meatballs I had ever had. I didn't expect to enjoy the dish that much, but I did. In fact, after I finished, I kept repeating to myself, "Wow. That was so good."

I topped this spaghetti with freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and provolone.

I am not 100% sure of what made that dish so fantastic, but I am quickly becoming convinced that the sauce was the primary factor (even another blogger raved about this sauce). The sauce was so good that I didn't have to dump a bunch of cheese on top for it to taste better. I will have to try out that sauce again.

I seasoned the sauce with various spices and allowed it to reduce for an hour because I was too hungry to wait longer than that. The juicy, flavorful meatballs complemented the sauce perfectly. Because I played around with the sauces, I have only a formal recipe for the meatballs from allrecipes and a list of the seasonings I used for the sauce.

What did I do with the other half of leftover bread? I converted the other half of the last loaf of bread to garlic toast by placing a generous amount of margarine (I use margarine for my savory dishes to save money haha) with garlic powder and Italian seasoning. I then baked and broiled the bread in the oven. Now, I only have a little bread left that I will use with more leftover spaghetti and meatballs today.

Yummy garlic toast...

TIP: Make the full meatball recipe or double it, parbake the meatballs (350 degrees for 10-15 mins), or fully fry them, and place the extras in the freezer for later use.

If you've heard of Pomì and have tried it, please leave a comment below about your experiences with it.

Meatballs
adapted from allrecipes

1 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground veal (I used 1 lb of ground beef and 1 lb of ground pork)

1/2 pound ground pork

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs

1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf

parsley

salt and ground black pepper to taste

2 cups stale Italian bread, crumbled (I used half of my last loaf of homemade bread and placed in the food processor.)

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (or milk, heavy cream, or half-n-half)

1 cup olive oil

	Combine beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl (I placed the non-meat ingredients in the bowl first so that I didn't have to handle the meat as much. Handling the meat too much can make it tough). Add garlic, eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.
	Blend bread crumbs into meat mixture. Slowly add the water 1/2 cup at a time (I only used 1/2 cup in TOTAL because I was afraid of using too much water. Next time I will use milk, half-n-half, or heavy cream to make it richer). The mixture should be very moist but still hold it's shape if rolled into meatballs. Shape into meatballs.
	Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Fry meatballs in batches (You can also bake the meatballs, but I don't have the instructions for that). When the meatball is very brown and slightly crisp remove from the heat and drain on a paper towel. (If your mixture is too wet, cover the meatballs while they are cooking so that they hold their shape better.)

Marinara Sauce

1 box of Pomì tomato sauce or any other sauce
oregano
parsley
salt and pepper
1 tsp of sugar
garlic powder
onion powder (or use freshly-chopped onions)
Cooked meatballs
Homemade or store-bought pasta

Pour in the sauce, and add the seasonings. Once the seasonings are fully integrated into the sauce, allow the sauce to cook over low heat for one to two hours. If cooking for one hour, add in the cooked meatballs within 30 minutes of the process. If two hours, add the meatballs after one hour. Serve on top of any pasta you like.

An Ode to My Old Camera and My Mom (not necessarily in that order hehe)

My mother:

I'll apologize to all of you out there ahead of time for what I'm about to announce, but I truly have the greatest mother in the world. Your mothers are a close second LOL!

I declare proudly that she's the greatest because last Christmas, my mother bought me an onyx Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (see below)...
...and this Christmas, she bought me a Canon XSi with a 50mm f/1.8 lens, and both items arrived at my doorstep the day before yesterday!!!! Words cannot even begin to describe how excited I am.

I thought that it would be easy to shoot from this camera on manual mode since that is what I use on my old camera, but I definitely need a lot more practice!

My old camera:

I tend to personify inanimate objects; it's one of my many idiosyncrasies. So, I feel like my old camera is not feeling the love anymore now that I have this new camera.

My old camera captured by my new camera at night!! :)

Since my old camera has helped me produce more than decent photos that have been published on Foodgawker, Tastespotting, Photograzing, and Refrigerator Soup, it deserves a decent thanks and somewhat of a farewell.

Notice the taped-up battery door! hahahahaha

My phone camera (Blackberry Storm)

I went from photos like the photos below of the focaccia bread that I took in my dark kitchen, which was either taken on my phone camera or my old camera.

What is that? haha

Believe it or not, all I had to do was step outside on my patio to produce much better photos like the one below of this focaccia bread from the same recipe of the one above.

Now that's more like it. I want some of that right now.

So, get ready to see better photos (hopefully) of delicious food. I already have photos of a meatball sub I made yesterday, but most of them were blurry, but I managed to produce a couple of decent ones. I just bought a tripod today to rectify those issues, though.

Thank you, mom!! I love you!
Thank you, old camera and Blackberry!
Thank you, Lord!!

Have a great day!

P.S. I received my new mixer yesterday, too!!! I will take photos of that once I get someone to help me take it out of the box haha.

Chocolate Chip Bars

The cookies in these photos came fresh out of the refrigerator the day after I made them. That is why they don't look ooey and gooey. Sorry about that folks!

Here's another chocolate chip recipe, but in bar form. I saw this recipe on Chocolate Bytes who got it from a youtube video. The recipe reqires shortening instead of butter, which causes the bars (or cookies) to be very soft. I didn't allow my bars to cook for very long to further ensure softness.
These bars were very delicious and remained so for three or four days (that's how long they lasted), but I wouldn't go far as to say they are the best CCCs I've ever had. I simply microwaved one or two bars for 30 sec - 1 minute and chewed them happily with a big mug of (skim) milk haha (I grew up on skim milk, so I can't tolerate any other type of milk for straight-up "drinkage").
Anyway, if you're one of those people who tend to shy away from shortening, try using half shortening and half butter to see how they turn out. I think I used butter-flavored shortening all the way. Also, if you don't want to use the below recipe, simply use one of your favorite CCC recipes, and convert the dough into bars. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

adapted from GingerCake

1 stick regular Crisco or vegetable shortening (I used butter-flavored shortening)
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs (large or jumbo) (I always use large eggs)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 cups AP flour

Mix the shortening and white sugar together with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes till creamed together.

Add the salt, baking soda, eggs and brown sugar. Mix again on medium for 1 minute or until incorporated.

Add the flour and mix with the mixer until both cups are incorporated.

Stir in an entire bag of semi-sweet chips by hand.

BARS:
Place cookie dough in a foil-lined or sprayed 9 X 13 baking dish and press it out until leveled. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. If using FOIL, take the bars out by lifting the foil and place the uncut bars on a cooling rack. Once cool enough to handle, cut the bard. If SPRAYED dish, allow the bars to cool in the dish and then cut them once they have somewhat cooled. Place the cut bars on a cooling rack, or just gobble them up right then and there!

COOKIES:
Roll into balls larger than golf ball size, but smaller than a small lemon. They should fit on one cookie sheet at a time (about 6 at a time). Bake at 345 for 14-15 minutes.

ANOTHER AWARD!!!

Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie just honored me with my second award. I feel so honored! Sarah's blog is full of healthy, hearty recipes. She has lovely, tempting photos on her blog, too. Please stop by her "place" when you get the chance.

This award is such a different recognition in that the 'sender' asks the 'recipient' to list the reasons why he/she enjoys blogging. I am really new at this and came into blogging completely by accident, but I will list a few of the things I enjoy:

1. I started to blog to celebrate my new found love for cooking and baking!

2. I enjoy blogging because I can document some of my favorite recipes.

3. I enjoy blogging because it gives me an opportunity to practice with my new love for photography.

4. I love having visitors stop by from all over this world. It's AMAZING!

5. I love being able to speak different languages with my different visitors. I am blessed and thankful for being multilingual.

Now, since I have given out awards already, I have a small list this time. This is the list of blogs that I regularly read and are MY WINNERS and that you should definitely check out:

Barbara at Barbara Bakes
Elra at Elra's Baking

Neno’s Award—-Rules and Regulations

1. As a dedication for those who love blogging and love to encourage friendships through blogging.
2. To seek the reasons why we all love blogging.
3. Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it. (I failed on this one. Sorry, Sarah!)
4. Don’t forget to mention the person who gives you the award.
5. Answer the award’s question by writing the reason why you love blogging.
6. Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like.
7. Don’t forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post.

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

I wasn't going to post about my Philly Cheesteak sandwich that I made out of the Italian Sandwich Rolls I made yesterday because it was dark when I had finished assembling the sandwich and because I thought I couldn't produce a decent enough photo, especially compared to that of Ezra Pound Cake.
However, this afternoon, I made another sandwich and thought it looked photogenic enough to post. I still have half of a sandwich sitting in the microwave for later consumption. The sandwich is really good and cheesy. As you can see, I love mayonnaise...a little too much.

This sandwich doesn't taste like an authentic Philadelphia Cheesesteak, but it is still very meaty, cheesy, and hearty. If you're far (geographically) from the real thing, you should definitely make this dish...no side dishes needed.
TIP: In order to cut the meat thin, I suggest you freeze the meat for a couple of hours and then cut the meat against the grain. The firmer texture makes cutting the meat a breeze.

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches
Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake and Emeril Lagasse (Food Network)
Makes 2 sandwiches

• 2 (homemade or store-bought) Italian sandwich rolls, split in half vertically
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 white onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 large green bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional; I didn't use this)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used kosher)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound rib-eye steak, very thinly shaved or sliced
• 1/3 pound thinly sliced white American cheese or Provolone OR 4 ounces melted Cheez Whiz (I used provolone and Velveeta)
  
• Garnish: Italian pickled peppers (I didn't use this)
  

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Place the rolls on a baking sheet, and warm them in the oven.

2. In the meantime, heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Add oil, onions and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 6 minutes (I cooked the onions for about 2-3 minutes in a cast-iron skillet since it will cook more on the side of the skillet). Add the garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Push off to 1 side of the griddle.

3. Add the meat to the hot pan and cook, stirring and breaking up with the back of 2 metal spatulas, until almost no longer pink, about 2 minutes (yeah, I couldn't do that so I just kept flipping it over until the pink was gone). Mix in the sautéed vegetables.

4. If you’re using cheese slices, lay them on top of the meat and vegetable mixture, and melt. Spoon the cheesy meat mixture into the warm buns.

5. If you’re using Cheez Whiz (or Velveeta), put the meat and vegetable mixture in the bun, dip a spatula in the Cheez Whiz, and wipe the spatula down the inside of the bread (I didn't dip the cheese in the spatula. Just get the processed cheese on there hehe). Serve immediately.

Italian Sandwich Rolls

Yesterday, I saw this Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich (which coincidentally comes from the same chef behind the bread recipe on this post) on Ezra Pound Cake. The sandwich looked so good that I decided right then and there to buy some rib-eye steak and cheese whiz.

I went to the store and bought the steak, but I decided against the cheese whiz and ended up getting Velveeta because I like that (processed) cheese more.

Getting ready to proof...

Instead of buying store-bought rolls, I made my own rolls because 1) I love making bread; 2) I knew it would make the sandwich taste much better and wholesome; and 3) I wanted to submit something to yeastspotting for next week. :D

Fresh and hot out of the oven!

This bread was very easy to make. I didn't have cake yeast, so I used bread-machine (instant) yeast...a whole 4.2 tsp of it!! As you can see, the bread rose considerably. The bread was fantastic and the sandwich even more so. I could only eat half of the sandwich even though it came from the smallest loaf of bread, and it took me 30 minutes to just eat that!

I separated the dough into four loaves, but the recipe seems to indicate that you can make one loaf from it. I think this dough was too huge for one loaf, even a long, skinny one. The dough was easy to handle and easy to roll/shape, though.

Italian Bread Recipe

by Emeril Lagasse on FoodNetwork

• 2 cups water, lukewarm (about 110 degrees Farenheit)
  
• 1 3/4 ounces cake yeast (1/3 cup) (I used 4.2 tsp of bread machine yeast)
  
• 5 3/4 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt (I used kosher)
  
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten (for egg wash)
  
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I didn't use or have)
  

Place the warm water and yeast in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer and allow the yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes (optional for some types of yeast). Using a dough hook attachment, add the flour and sugar to the water and mix on low speed until a dough starts to form. Drizzle the oil and salt into the dough and beat on medium speed for 8 to 10 minutes (or knead the dough by hand), or until a smooth, firm, elastic dough is formed.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and spray the dough with a thin coating of cooking spray (cooking spray not necessary if you roll the dough around the oil-lined bowl). Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to proof in a warm, draft-free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size (and it will triple in size like it did for me, if you're not careful).

Remove the plastic wrap, punch down and flatten the rounded dough with the heel of your hand. Roll the dough up tightly, sealing the seam well after each roll. The dough should be elongated and oval-shaped, with tapered and rounded (not pointed) ends. (I cut up the dough into four pieces and then I rolled and shaped them. If you want smaller loaves, I suggest making 8 loaves out of this recipe.)

Preheat the oven lined with a pizza stone or a baking sheet (which I used) to 425 degrees F. If using a pizza stone, place the dough on a baker's peel heavily dusted with semolina flour, or cornmeal, or alternately on an inverted baking sheet (I first added melted butter to the bottom of the sheet and then the cornmeal for added flavor YUM!).

Allow the dough to proof, loosely covered with a damp towel (my towel was dry), for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size. Brush the dough with the egg white and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. Using a razor blade or sharp knife, score 3 (1/4-inch deep) slashes across the top of the dough at a 45 degree angle.

Spray the dough generously with water from a water bottle and place in the oven on the baking stone. Immediately close the oven and bake for 3 minutes. Open the oven door and spray the dough again with the water bottle. Close the oven door and bake for an additional 3 minutes before spraying the dough for a third time (the spraying of the dough will ensure a crisp golden brown crust). Bake the dough for 45 minutes (my bread baked in less time than indicated), or until a hollow thud is heard when the bread is whacked with the bowl of a wooden spoon. Allow the bread to cool slightly before serving.