Thursday, December 30, 2010

Cranberry Shortbread Bars

As a last post for the year, an appropriate dish would be a sweet & tart squares that is specially made for the town librarians as a treat for the new years, while it is still warm. Overtime, they have been accustomed to my baking trials & assure me that they would definitely be a regular & recommend my baked goodies to other townies when & if I open up my patisserie. I consider that as a sweetest words, a support, a push from friends that boost up this aspiring baker's ego.

So here's the square all ready beautiful just as is for a short ride to the library.


Source: Lawrence, Sue. 'On Baking'. Kyle Cathie Limited. London: 1996.
Makes about 16 square bars.


Ingredients:

Cranberry Filling:
8 ounces (2 1/4 cups) fresh cranberries
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons water

Shortbread Bars:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch (corn flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
Butter or spray with a non stick cooking spray a 9 x 9 inch pan (Mine was a pie plate).

Cranberry Filling:In a medium sized saucepan, place all the ingredients. Then, over medium-high heat, cook the ingredients until boiling. Continue to boil the filling until it becomes thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool while you make the shortbread.

Shortbreads: In a bowl sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt.
In a (separte bowl) electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.
Add the sugar and beat until smooth (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated.

Evenly press two-thirds of the shortbread into the bottom of the prepared pan. Then evenly spread the cranberry filling over the shortbread base, leaving a 1/4 inch border. With the remaining shortbread dough, using your fingers, crumble it over the top of the cranberry filling. Then lightly press the dough into the filling.



Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Remove from oven, place on a wire rack, and while still hot, cut into 16 squares if made in a square pan (or 16 wedges in a circular pan like me). Allow to cool completely in pan.



G's note:
The shortbread tasted amazingly apt for the filling. For a sweet toothed girl, the sugar needs to be incresed just a tad. So next time, 1 cup of granulated sugar should work it magic.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Nutella chocolate Cookies

I'm on a roll,  cookie baking fest is going full-on. Having a nutella-crazy little kid, experimenting anything with it or chocolate for that matter is easy. There's the inspiration right there!
These turned out so good that we decided to share it with Santa. How generous of us!























Ingredients:½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup Nutella
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped chocolate bits (I used Giraldeli milk choc)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream butter and sugars in a mixer on high speed,  about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Add the egg, vanilla, Nutella and mix well.
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until all the ingredients are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix just until the dough is smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
Bake 6-7 minutes. Let cookies cool about 5 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Christmas cake/ Plum cake

 Here's our gingerbred house for this year!

Christmas cheer follows w-a-y after the holiday. A whole month of baking, making experimental goodies & being in the spirit all of that doesn't end yet, for this baking lunatic.
I have a couple more days of celebration still in store for my kids including a second gingerbread house ( first one was from a pre-made cookies, that doesn't count so Im getting my over-acheiver wind in me in attempting a house from scratch)

This week has lots in store for us. M also is trying his hand at a few more kinds of cookies to bake before the year ends since his whoopie pies were a big hit among his friends. With the vacation week, we can never have too many things to do at home since  mommy's 15  free minutes  or freedom/lazing on the sofa = reruns of "what do we do, now?" by my very easily bored kids.

 The snowstorm past weekend was a blessing in disguise for me, for a change being snowed in was a break from the usual grocery trip, the library, chauffeuring the kids to play dates & such. On the con's side though: the DVD's have been overused, board games are overused & ripping of the sides & I'm noticing that my family is constantly hungry. Is it because it's cookie season?

Let me hold on to the beauty of winter, the shimmering  tree  lit till the month end at the very least & my oven will be used once everyday till we run out of sugar or flour.  I still have 2 more friends who  missed  my cake this season. Today is a perfect day to bake up another batch of Christmas cake just for the pic purpose. This time a sheet cake, a muffin tray and a small 6" pan will be a perfect size to share.

(My round cake went to the Uttagi's party) here's a pic of the cake squares saved to share with the neighbour & for my V.

Ingredients
Candied citrus peels, raisins, marashino cherries, dried cherries, cranberries, currants, raisins, dates - make 3 cups(any combo)
rum – 1 cup
All purpose flour – 3 cups
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Butter – 2 sticks
brown Sugar – 2 cups
Granulated Sugar – 1/2 cup
Eggs – 6
cashew nuts, walnuts, raisins - about 10 each
All-spice powder - 1 tsp
cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Vanilla essence – 2 tsp

Method:

Prep the cake pans: butter the pans,


dust the pan with flour,

then line a sheet of parchment paper around the circumference ( I didn't know how many inches of extra height so I made 6" over the rim...what was I thinking?) & the bottom of the pan( here's where I messed up, I didn't line the bottom since my cakes 'always comes out clean; but- not this
time around :(



 
 Note to self: Make time for this extra (worthy)step. Line the bottom of the pans!!!

Soak up the fruits with rum, cover & set aside in a dark cabinet for 3 days to up to a month in advance.( I soaked up mine a day before thanks givimg weekend to get all the babies drunk up so
4 weeks = pretty drunk up fruits...oh-la-la)


 .


Sift the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, all-spice powder, cinnamon powder, salt. Add cashew nuts cranberries, dried dated, dried cherries to this.


Cream the butter with brown sugar till the sugar crystals have almost dissolved. Add eggs &vanilla extract. Whisk till blended.


 .


Caramelize the sugar, by heating 1/2 a cup of sugar in the saucepan with 1 tbsp of water on a medium high heat, without stirring. The purpose is to achieve a deep brown syrup. This will take about 10 mins.




.

Remove from heat, set aside for a couple mins & then add 1/2 a cup of water. Don't be afraid of the sizzle.


beat together: soaked fruits, dry ingredients, caramel syrup, creamed butter-sugar mixture.

bake: pour this into cake pans


& bake at 300F for 2hrs for round pan, 1 hr for th sheet pan, 35 mins for mini muffins. This recipe yields 6x 4" round + 9"X13" rectangle pan (my first batch) OR 6x4', 12 mini muffins & a 2" round( 2nd batch).



Cool on pan for 15 mins. Invert on a cooling grid, remove the parchment paper. Cool completely.

Typically this cake is made a week in advance, every other day sprinkled with a couple teaspoons of brandy or rum and stored in an airtight container untill the christmas eve. Mine was presoaked dry fruits. I skipped this on purpose. End result was all worth the circus.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Sugar cookies

 A little string of Christmas lights  hung over my kids bed push me to bake a few sugar cookies using these colors as an inspiration. More cookies= more sharing, less guilt  while sneaking in a few of these goodies. Here's a simplest of all recipe to make this baking season fly by. 
A day spent in making these cookies went faster than imagined because there were absolutely no mess to clean up afterwards. Here's why- I didnt sift the flour, didnt roll out  the dough on the kitchen counter & there was no pile of crumbs on the floor. That's a motivation in itself!

A pretty simple one bowl, one wooden spoon recipe. Love it!

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 1/3 cups  all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 375°F.

Beat sugar and butter with spoon until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, and egg. Add in flour and baking soda in batches scraping dough from the sides & mixing evenly. Shape dough by teaspoonfuls into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in sugar.

OR

 For roll out cookies, add 2 tbsp extra flour. Divide into two flatened disk, cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for 15 mins. Roll out between 2 sheets of wax or parchment paper to 1/4"thickness & cut circles.

Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

 Serve as is, glazed or cover with royal icing. For the glaze, mix 2 tbsp confectioner's sugar & 1 tsp lime juice well. Drizzle over cookies & sprinkle with sanding sugar or citrus zests.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Kidiyo/ kul kul

The  most mischievious kid on the block is wishing the hardest for a ben-10 omnitrix.
Christmas is almost here, all my baking for the season is almost done. The wish list for Santa is getting erased and re-written several times this month. The cookies are being a staple in our diet these days too. 
How festive is that!
 Past few weeks I've had more of sheet pans, dough hooks, beaters & mixing bowls to clean than the actual dishes that gets involved in the desi kitchen.   I'm not complaining, at least till January, that is. Sweet smelling kitchen day in & day out. What's not to like?
 Letting myself ready for a  surprise venture, I head enthusiastically to make a Xmas delicacy: Kidiyo.


Kidyo, kul-kul was one kuswar( Christmas platter) goody that I always wanted more of as it was always over-excitedly welcome to our house which showed up only during Christmas.
Kuswar included rich plum cake, chakkuli, shev's, kulkul/kidiyo (litterally meaning worm shaped), guliyo ( a very hard ball of dough resembling marbles, rose cookies (a very delicate lacy flower made of fried batter) & nevreos (empanada shaped sweet filled fried goody).  As much as I loved all of those, I was biased to the infamous glazed kulkul/ Kidyo which were the first one to be relished by me. This was only eaten once a year, so you see the desperation?! I needed the recipe bad!
A few phone calls to my homeland, a few request to fellow foodie friends & few of my old friends who 'might' have made this in the past later & I was in no luck. I decided to go with the sweet thukudi recipe & gave it a shot with the hope that I just might replicate the delicacy that I once had more than a decade ago. Although there is no authenticity to this recipe it sure tasted pretty close. A close friend who made these recently had all the ingredients that I used but with more or less proportion. I was close to the actual recipe, after all.  I'm not  such a bad cook, I say!

Ingredients:
1 cup All purpose flour
1 cup Rawa
2 tbs Butter, chilled
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:
Pulse dry in a food processor, add coconut milk a couple tablespoon at a time till the dough forms together into a soft ball. Keep covered for half an hour.

Heat oil for frying. In the meantime, make gnocchi shaped rolls by taking a marble sized ball of dough, flatten it on the backside of fork, pressing it from the bottom of fork tines to the tip. Roll it from one side (preferably bottom to top) as you are making ridges along the way till you get to the end into a tight curl (or they unfurl while frying). The kulkul should curl into a roll with ridges on their backs captured by the impression of the tines as tiny ridges will catch glaze later making these irresistible.

Cook the kul kul in batches by dropping them into the medium hot oil & frying it to a golden brown. They will let you know when they are cooked because they will float up to the top & stop sizzling. Fish them out of the oil with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels. Set aside to glaze..

For the glaze:
1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water. Mix & boil the syrup for about 5 mins. This reduces the liq and leaves a one string consistency syrup. Dip a few kul kuls at a time, remove & let drain on a cooling rack. Make sure to separate any kul kuls that are stuck together(while they are still warm & fresh out of syrup). Cool, share & enjoy.

Concluding, the Christmas baking with kul-kul was a sweet ending & a successful at that.

Making kuswars were a breeze, making dinners were W-A-Y easier because I'd make a quick healthy 'make-do dinners', picture my table with pasta, garlic bread, pizza's, roasted vegetables, macaroni& cheese in a mix and match combo...what's hard about that! My carb-lover family loved the house always filled with smell of fresh breads
(sourdough, Italian & focaccia's), fried doughs (tukudi, kidiyo & mulikh) & cookies made everyday. It was good while it lasted. I now have to get back my cooking rhythm.

Chicken Bhuna/ chicken roast

Khawan (store brought) is a perfect roti for this chicken roast

  •  A very 'fine food critic, hard to please taste bud' of the family really approves that the justice has been done to this borrowed recipe. That says it all!




A quick chicken roast saves the gloomy sunday eve at the Rao household. I for one needed something 'desi', cooking at my stove top this evening. There is only so much take outs, food courts and frozen dinners one can eat all in one weekend.

 Picturing a rich spicy dish, loved by all (yeah, I want the kind I know for sure is a winner) that shouts 'eat me', on this cold cold winter eve, I set out to go to my staple bhuna/roast chicken.

 You know how Sunday eve sneaks up on us faster than we want it to arrive. I want it all to slow down, bring the family to the table for a favourite meal & conclude the leisure event-free weekend, happily.

Chicken bhuna is the name that is screaming loud, much louder than I can hear my thoughts. I shuffle through the papers of hand written recipes to find the one from years ago. I wish I remembered who I wrote it down from (ah, I miss my apartment friends), so I could giving her the right credit. I can't keep a good recipe down, so here I am sharing our family favourite.


Ingredients:
Chicken 2 lbs, cut into big pieces
Onions 1, diced
Tomatoes 4-5, finely chopped
Ginger -Garlic paste- 2tbs
Green chillies 4, slit
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tablespoons
Cumin seeds - 2 teaspoons
Blackpepper - 8
Garam Masala - 2 tablespoons
Kasuri methi - 1 teaspoon.
Oil -3tbs
Salt - to taste.
Fresh cilantro to garnish



Method:
Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin and black peppercorns and grind to a coarse powder.

Heat oil in a kadai over medium-high heat until very hot, add onion and saute till lightly browned. Add the ground spice powder,red chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and saute for a couple minutes.

Add tomatoes and salt and continue to saute till the tomatoes softens, add in chicken, lower the heat to simmer and continue to cook until the chicken are cooked through and the sauce has thickened coating the chicken (about 5 to 6 minutes).

Once the chicken is tender, add half a cup of water and cover the pan and simmer for 5 more minutes. At this point, chicken is cooked through and the gravy is thick and rich. Add in garam masala and kasuri methi (crush in your palms to wake up the aroma) and cook for 2 minutes .

Garnish with cilantro (I ran out justifying that kasuri methi was flavorful enough). Serve immediately with rice and roti.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Nan Khatai

The past week my thoughts were consumed with all the goodies that I'd bake for Christmas kuswar( goodies platter). The only friend who bakes this season in the spirit of Christmas is a a fellow foodie, Mamata Uttangi. Her house is always loaded with baked/fried goodies..all home-made and in massive quantities. When I say massive, I mean m-a-s-s-i-v-e. Her cup for measurement is a 'ser/sher aka pav'. You get the point!



Last week, nan khatai was the highlight of the eve. Upon offering these, I shamelessly forgot to offer my husband one, ignored my kids & relished them like they were the first time I had laid my hands on them. You don't understand...If you are a materialistic person, in your view, these are like gold to me, let's say "a melt in your mouth" kind of gold. They were the first home-made nan khatais that tasted authentic & far better than bakery ones, tantalizing my nostalgic memory...teasing for more.

Would nan khatai purists be terribly upset for doing this to plain old cookies? (BTW,the crushed pistachio goes in before being baked so it adheres well as well as hides unsightly cracks ( two-fer again!)...if you are a perfectionist like me & don't like to see your goodies  crack on top while baking)




Recipe source: Mamata Uttangi
pretty easy '5321' in her words. So here goes:
Half recipe yields 72 nan khatais.

Ingredients:
5 cups maida/ AP flour
3 cups sugar
2 cups ghee
1 cup besan
Elaichi powder

Mix all of the above. Place on counter top (covered) overnight.


The next day, shape into balls, flatten them. Place on parchment lined sheet pan, bake at 350F for 10-15 mins. I say 10 minutes for just done ivory colored nan khatai. For brown edges 15 mins.


Turn them to see slight browned bottom. Cool.


Seriously, that's it!

FYI, no extra lbs were put-on in the making of these.
All my goodies were shared with Sheila, Indu, the librarians at my town & Mamta of course!

G's note:
*Mamta rolled it into a log and cut up discs & baked (considering the amount she had to tackle that day with a toddler in tow).
*I made half of the recipe, had all the time on hands to shape these babies and went a step further like mentioned above.

Meringue cookies

A novice conquers her fear and enters a unknown territory. It's about time! Anyone who worked with these knows what I'm talking about. You need to beat the egg whites, just right. A few beats shy and you don't get the peak that you were anticipating. A couple extra beats & you loose the peak/ fluff & shine and end up with curdle mess. Apart from these problems, the worst is the crack on the finished product (I had 2 hairline crack on my cookies, 2 out of 75, not bad, I say). A "baking experiment that yielded perfection" is a beautiful day!.


Meringue cookies a k a Cashew macaroon: who knew that a shapeless mound of snowy tower with bits of cashew nuts poking through, would change a mom's priorities for a day?! "Today is the changing day in your life", picture Dr Phil's voice as you read this. Overcoming fear of deflated macaroon/ meringue & moving on is crossed off of my list today!


You may think, why in the world, would I want this so bad!
The answer is
(1) I don't accept failure well,
(2)At a recent trip to homeland, a little friend presented my kids with a packet of meringue also called as cashew macaroon (not to be mistaken with coconut cookies called as macaroons as well) that they absolutely loved &
(3) lastly, I live in a land where such desi delicacies are rare and with any luck if I happen to find a packet, they are near-rotten.

I've finally overcome the fear of deflated dry meringues.
The keys to remember are:
do not open the oven impatiently while baking these cuties.
Use cream of tartar to stabilize the meringue
beat egg whites to soft peaks( at least) before you add sugar.
If adding nuts or choc chips, add it to the piped meringues not to the batter.

Pics didn't do justice, but is up for curious cats.


Thanks to Sandra Lee's recipe, we now have a perfect 'kisses'
Ingredients
3 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon imitation strawberry extract
3 drops red food coloring

Special Equipment: Pastry bag
#4 star tip
Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.


Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat egg whites in clean large metal bowl on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Increase speed to high and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Quickly mix in strawberry extract. Stir in food coloring, 1 drop at a time, until desired color is achieved.


Spoon meringue into pastry bag fitted with star tip. Pipe 12 (1 1/2-inch high by 1 1/2 -inch in diameter) mounds onto each prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart. Bake for 3 hours, or until dry and crisp. Cool meringues completely on baking sheets. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Chocolate chip cookies

If you are looking for the chewiest moist cookies with chocolate in every bite & a crisp edges, this is the one for you. It will lead you to chocolate heaven & may also embarrass you with way too many praises from the ones who scarfed these bites of sinfully awesome goodies. So go ahead, make these for your kids but don't forget to save some for Santa!



Recipe courtesy: Alton Brown
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F (I set mine at 350).

2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat.
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

3. Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Chill the dough (about 1 hour), then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet (mine were 18S disher ice cream scoop). Bake for 14 minutes (I baked for 12 mins) or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes.(I skiped this step)
Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Rustic Italian bread


This was always a 'must do' for me. As much as I love to bake, I'd hate to see my hard work go down the drain if my bread didn't have the right structure, perfect crust and the unforgettable taste that makes one want for more....and I have ruthlessly done so, many many times :P

>



I have been on a quest to achieve the three things mentioned above in
One bread
. If the texture was right, the crust wasn't 'crusty', right crust had a blah kind of taste. All that came to an end today! A whole week of baking sourdough loaves, perfecting the 'tang' along with the qualities mentioned above has finally put me in my happy place. now, I've moved on to Italian bread, using the recipe below for baguette & french bread & having a sense of pride to accomplishing a bread lover's dream (err...did I forget to say this was my husbands dream more than mine? Yeah, it is, sigh!)

baking doesn't have to be so intimidating. Unlike cooking, baking is an exact formula. Follow it to the tee & you'll amaze yourself like I am. :D

courtesy: Pillsbury bread flour packet
Ingredients:
bread flour 3 cups
water( warm 100to 110F) 1 cup
1 packet (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
Olive oil 2 tbs
Sugar 2 tbs
Salt 1/2 tsp
1 egg
cornmeal

Combine dry ingredients [flour, sugar, salt, yeast] together im a large bowl. Add warm water & oil; mix well. Knead dough for 10 mins. I used my stand mixer to save time. Place dough in lightly greased (oil) bowl; cover and let rise in a warm place ( 80 to 85F) for 30 to 40 mins.
After letting the dough rise, punch down the dough & rest on counter for 15 mins. Shape dough into baguette- shaped loaf, about 12" long. Place dough o cornmeal coated sheet pan. Cover, let rise in warm place 35 to 40 mins or until doubled in size.
Heat oven to 375F. With a sharp knife, make 1 deep lengthwise slash on top. brush loaf with beaten egg white. bake for 25 to 35 mins or until loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Dream bars



The desire to make this was very strong earlier today... one of the reasons maybe the favourite ingredient that goes into making these...pure white daintily piled up mound of sweetened snowflake coconut sitting pretty on my kitchen counter as a part of my gingerbread house snow scape OR that I badly want to make another use of my tart pan to justify myself for wanting a second pan that I'm eyeing at the William Sonoma.



Who except me cares what my reasons are to bake these, as long as these taste 'yum'. With the Christmas season here & many goodies to make & share, this comes im handy as well as adds to the beauty of my platters.

Recipe courtesy: Chef's select coconut

1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups coconut

Mix together flour,1/2 cup brown sugar & butter until particles are fine. Press into bottom of ungreased 13x9" pan.bake at 350F for 15 mins.

beat 1 1/2 cups brown sugar with eggs until just blended. Mix in remaining ingredients. Spread over partially bakes crust. bake 20 to 25 mims or until golden brown.

Cool.Cut with sharp knife.
Makes 24 bars

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

whoopie pie

A well known little pie that doesn't look anything like one; made of two soft chocolate cookies sandwiched with sweet creamy filling has been another favourite that my 10 yr  old loves to bake.

 The recipe  is not only super-easy to follow for my bake addict kid  &amp is  just as satisfying for this chocolate lover  but my best reason;  I don't have to bake a real cake & worry  about what to do with  about half the cake that sits in the refrigerator as a leftover. It is just the right size for a lumch dessert + freezes easy. You know how just how much I love a twofer idea!

Cookies:
2 cups All purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1stick (8 Tbs) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together flour, baking soda & salt in a bowl until combined.
In a separate bowl, stir together buttermilk & vanilla.
With a mixer, beat together butter & sugar at medium speed untill mixture is plale & fluffy ( about 3 mins).
Add egg, beat till combined. Reduce speed to low & alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk in batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Mix until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line the sheet pan with parchment paper & spray with cooking spray.

Spoon 1 tbs mounds of batter. bake until tops are puffed & cookies spring back when touched, 8-10 mins. Mine took 14 mins as  the batter was slightly more than a tablespoon. Yeah, I don't spend time to measure each scoop. :0
 Transfer to a rack & cool completely.

Marshmallow filling:
1 stick ( 8tbs) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cup marsmallow cream ( fluff)
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, beat together butter, powdered sugar, marshmallow cream & vanilla to fluff it up.

Assemble the pies by spreading a teaspoon of filling on one  flat side of half of the cookies & top with the  other flat side. Repeat with the remaining.



Store: Refrigerated for a week, frozen upto 2 months. Serve at room temperature.