Friday, December 9, 2011

You may need these

Sometimes you just need a home made biscuit to have with your tea or coffee. The store bought ones are just not going to satisfy the need. If I have extra calories, I'm sure gonna make them worth having.

I know the Americans call them cookies but we call them biscuits and the American biscuit is more like our scone, how confusing! Even more confusing is the whole way butter measurements differ. I'm darn sure nobody squishes butter into a cup to measure and we don't have sticks of butter either, we're not woosies, we call it a block, lol. and it is a block of butter.
If you love the flavour of spices then you should have to make these white chocolate gingerbread cookies.
I got the recipe off Susan here. These are seriously good and the recipe makes a ton which you American friends need cause you have that whole mammoth baking marathon experience thing going on right about now that we don't.  I do admit that I used two eggs not one and I got my butter weight sorted over at onlineconversion.com I have no idea what shortening is in the recipe but I used butter.
Next time, and there will be one since DH said these are a keeper, I'm going to try golden syrup instead of molasses and maybe mixed spice instead of the ones in the recipe. I just can't leave a recipe alone, I usually muck around and start tweaking them.

My next must have is my little early Santa gift to myself. It's a needle threader, needle holder and has a couple of other doodacky type bits attached to it. It just may cut down on the frustration when the quilting thread seems to be bigger than the eye of the needle but really it's probably my aging eyes.
I checked out this video before buying. Click on the arrow in the picture.if you want to see it.

37 comments:

Oops-Lah said...

Yes, that's also something that baffles me. Not only is it messy to measure butter by cups it's also very inaccuracy. Weighing all the ingredients is so much faster and more accurate, at least in my book!
It looks like the needle threader by Sewline is a nifty little gadget.

Rachaeldaisy said...

Ohh yum!! Its great you posted this recipe on a Friday because I'll get Gbf to make some on the weekend, he the cook, im good at the eating part! The needle threader looks handy! Isnt it great we can watch videos of things like this.

Alice said...

I currently use my 10 year old daughter as a needle threader after she pointed out that I was trying to thread the tip of the needle instead of the eye:)
Stunning quilt in the header and loved the Jacaranda in the last photo too.

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Oh, they look delicious! Love the look of the needle threader!

antique quilter said...

I NEED that needle threader!
shortening is crisco in a tub,
http://www.crisco.com/Products/Category.aspx?GroupID=17
never thought about how things that are a staple here in the USA is something different in other countries...
Kathie

Nat Palaskas said...

Thanks Janet for the recipe for that yummy cookies and the needle threader I think I need one too - Enjoy the weekend - Hugs Nat

Jess @ Scrappy n Happy said...

I have an american slow-cooker cook book and it is tricky converting recipes. They look delish!
The sewline needle threader looks interesting.

Martha said...

I bought one of those needle threaders last week and loved it so much I immediately bought 4 more for the ladies in my sewing circle as Christmas gifts. I love it!

Hattie said...

I absolutely love your new header and have sketched it so I can applique it. Was it a pattern or did you design it?

Shari said...

These cookies sound seriously delightful... it is challenging converting recipes and ingredients - but hey! life is an adventure!

Your gadgets look great...

Hope you have a great Christmas!

Janet said...

I hope you've come back to read the comments Hattie since you're no reply blogger. The pattern is from a Piece O cake book called Once Upon A Season. Glad you like it.

ButtonMad said...

Oh these look delicious - I am busy trawling the internet looking for a festive biscuit to serve at our Christmas party this weekend - I'd better get to the shops to buy some ingredients - thanks for sharing!
Oh, and I understand what you mean about the butter!

Barb said...

Thanks for the review, this would be perfect for my mother....

Nedra said...

The Sewline needle threader is now on my Christmas list. Thank you so much for the YouTube video. It makes all the difference in the world to see how the threader is used. I've had threaders in the past that I felt were awkward and not easy to tote around. This one looks great!

Susan said...

I have had others ask me about the butter/shortening issue and I still find it odd that shortening (Crisco) isn't available everywhere! Butter is a good substitute although it does change the texture a bit. Cookies made with butter tend to be a little more crispy. Cookies made with shortening stay soft/chewy.
It's also funny that you mention the measuring mess...Crisco comes in a 3 pound can and you scoop it out and squish it into a measuring cup and yes, it's a messy process! (Crisco did come out with sticks with pre-measured marks on the package awhile ago, but they are pricy)
Anyway...I'm glad that you were able to figure out the recipe and enjoyed the cookies!

Sujata Shah said...

Janet,
Those cookies look delicious! Yes, I know what you mean by calling them cookies and not the biscuits. Many words like that used to puzzle me when I first moved here.
I will look the needle threader up. Boy do I need one now! Thank you!
Sujata

Abby and Stephanie said...

As I sip my morning tea I do believe these cookies would be delicious for breakfast. :o) I haven't started any baking yet. How to describe shortening--it comes in a can and is thick like butter except it's white. Often times butter or shortening or a combo of both are used in recipes.

Mary said...

The cookies look yummy and, yes, if you are in a cookie exchange dozens of cookies is what you are looking for. I make lots of cookies and I almost always use butter, but our sticks are premeasured so a stick is 1/2 a cup. I don't actually measure my butter with a measuring cup...but I would measure shortening with a measuring cup. And it does get messy. Personally, I like butter better than shortening. In Amish country we can buy butter in wheels!
Great little threader you found there!

Barb said...

Those cookies look so good! I love any baked good with spice, thanks!
I am trying to hold out on a threader and see it as an excuse to exercise my eyes, but I do have to look over my glasses now....aging, so interesting. I'm sure this is a good one, I like all their products.

Shelley said...

When in doubt about converting a recipie, contact a Canadian follower because we are pretty much bi-lingual in the metric to Standard(US) conversion stuff. And yes, I stuff my butter into a measuring cup lol!

Cheri said...

How fun to read your post and all the comments and see all the differences in what we call the same thing. I am one of those Americans deep in marathon baking for the holidays, mostly to use as gifts.
I will have to check out the needle threader, they are like my reading glasses...you can't have enough and there is never one at hand when you need it.
Happy Stitching Janet

Carrie P. said...

Yes, it is funny how words can have such different meanings in different countries.
You can buy butter by the block in the US but I prefer the sticks because most times I use them for baking and the measurements on the divided on the paper wrapper around the butter. So much easier.
I do not use shortening much but when I do it is an organic non-hydrogenated shortening.
You got me curious about why we Americans do so much baking for Christmas and you don't.
I looked up one thing on google and I think it is because when immigrants from Europe came to America they brought those traditions with them. I know my family has made Spritz cookies as long as I can remember which is of German descent.(http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Classic-Spritz-Cookies)
I will be making some myself this weekend.

Thimbleanna said...

Ahhhh, you've made me laugh Janet! No baking marathons for you? I thought Christmas baking was universal -- I see all the Christmas cakes that aren't really traditional here on a lot of the AU/UK blogs. We do love our cookies -- and lots of them at Christmas. This recipe looks wonderful -- thanks for sharing. I've become a big fan of white chocolate in cookies in the last few years.

Oh -- and I NEVER squish my butter into cups -- can't even imagine how I would do it. Our sticks come wrapped in paper and it has measurements on the side. Just cut the amount of butter to the size you need -- easy peasy!!!

Janet said...

Yummy looking cookies! I bet the white chocolate lovers at my house will love them!
Hope the needle threader is a good one :0)

Pat said...

Yummy looking cookies, Janet!
Your needle threader looks so much more efficient than the ones Clover makes. I get frustrated with mine - while it sometimes threads the fine applique needles, it often ends up cutting the thread instead. And then frequently the needle flies out and off I go hunting for it. Thanks for info - hoping I can locate the Sewline in the US???

Nic said...

Mmm, those look yummy. Might have to try them, so thanks for the recipe.

I'm odd, I use both the terms biscuit and cookie. Growing up in NZ, it's biscuit, like the UK. But now, I use biscuit to mean crunchy ones like I grew up with, and cookie to mean soft and chewy ones. Told you I was odd.

Oh and when a recipe calls for shortening, I use Stork.

I don't do a baking maratho either, but I do a choc and sweet making marathon instead. Last year it was hundreds of chocolate truffles, in 6 different flavours. This year, I'm thinking fudge. Then I parcel them up and hand them out at work, and to my neighbours. Maybe the baking marathon would be saner.

Sharon said...

I need one of these and the cookies look fab. WIll give them a whirl.

Cardygirl said...

The needle threaders are amazing...I bought one at Darling Harbour in June. Like the sound of the bikkies...gingerbread...yum!

Anonymous said...

The only thing about this needle threader is if I would even be able to see the eye of the needle to have in the correct position. LOL I currently use the Clover needle threader. I love that the one you shared has needle storage and magnet to pick them up...everything improves in time..wonder what they will come up with next?!!
So...you guys don't bake batches of cookies for gift giving during the holidays? They look wonderful.

Pip said...

Butter, butters better :) I weigh all my ingredients, much more accurate. This recipe looks delish, but I wonder what size packet of white chocolate chips/morsels did you use?

Pinkadot Quilts said...

Cookies or biscuits they look yummy! I have a similar needle threader and love it, great video too.

Eileen said...

Your cookies look wonderful, wish I had some as I am drinking a wonderful cup of coffee.
Your description of American recipes made me laugh..
It is fun that the cyber world allows us so much more insight into each other's world like cooking.
I thought everyone did the mammoth cookie baking thing at Christmas.

Vika Yaniff said...

Очень понравился ваш новый заголовок!!!
И прекрасное приспособление для игл!

Sherryl said...

I made these cookies this weekend and oh my goodness they are SO delicious! Especially with a cup of coffee. I have to keep the lid tightly on their box so they're not TOO easy to get to. (I found a bag of chips was too much though - there wasn't enough dough to hold all those chips together - probably 1-1/2 cups would do?) Anyway LOVE them! My new fav! Thank you for sharing!!

Robin said...

Gingerbread and white chocolate??? Oh, my. I shall definitely be baking some of these soon.

Peggi said...

Oooh yum. I am so going to try this recipe.

Shortening (in case no one has enlightened you) is essentially solidified vegetable oil, although you can expand the definition to include any fat that is solid at room temperature. It's used in baking to prevent gluten molecules from cross-linking and becoming too sticky. As an earlier commenter stated, it usually makes for chewier cookies (or biscuits). It's been around since the very early 1900's, and Crisco was invented in 1911.
There - now you know more than you ever wanted about shortening!

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