Tag: pretty cookies

Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

These magical cookies were inspired by my viral Raspberry White Chocolate Scones. The flavors work so well together and the pretty pink sparkling sugar adds a nice crunchy texture, so I thought they would make excellent cookies too. And I was right! These cookies are everything I was dreaming about. In the scones, fresh raspberries were added directly into the dough. In this recipe, instead, I made a quick raspberry jam to fold into the cookies. Make sure to fold it in gently because if you over mix it, the dough will become too wet, which can lead to excess spreading. I also broke the chocolate into pieces, rather than chopping it. Chopping the chocolate makes too many small chards of chocolate which can also cause excess spreading.

Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

by Mari Vasseur
Cookies with white chocolate pieces and fresh raspberry jam swirled into the dough and topped with pink sparkling sugar
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 18 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ½ cups (198g) raspberries, divided
  • ¾ cup (150g) plus 2 tablspoons (25g) granulated sugar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) water
  • 1 ¾ cups (225g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • ¼ cup (30g) cake flour, sifted
  • ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 1 4 oz (113g) bar of white chocolate, cut into bite size pieces, plus extra for tops or 2/3 cup (4 oz / 113g) white chocolate chips
  • Pink pearl coarse sparkling sugar optional

Instructions
 

  • Set aside 1/2 cup of raspberries. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining 1 cup of raspberries with 2 tablespoons of sugar and the lemon juice. When the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat down and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture starts to thicken, about 3 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the water & cornstarch together. Stir this mixture into the saucepan and continue simmering until the mixture reaches a jam consistency, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in the reserved raspberries. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.
  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, the cake flour, salt and baking soda until well blended.
  • In a large bowl, beat the butter, the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar, and the brown sugar, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and the egg yolk in 2 separate additions until well incorporated. Beat in the extracts.
  • On low speed, stir the flour mixture into the batter, just until combined. Stir in the white chocolate pieces. Fold in the cooled raspberry mixture very gently. Do not over mix! You want to see raspberry swirls. Over mixing will change the texture of the cookies.
  • Place 2-tablespoon sized portions of cookie dough about 3 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. I used a #30 portion scoop.* Top each cookie with a piece of white chocolate and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until the tops of the cookies are set and the edges turn light golden brown, about 10-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes

If your cookies spread too much, you can try refrigerating the dough balls for 10-15 minutes before baking. Don't refrigerate the dough longer or your dough may become discolored. For best results, weigh your ingredients.
*To find the portion scoop I used, click here.  
Keyword cookies, raspberry white chocolate

Pink Velvet Cookies

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Pink Velvet Cookies

Whenever I walk into a bakery, my eyes are always drawn to anything pink. Pink cupcakes, cookies, donuts or anything with pink icing will inevitably come home with me. This probably started in childhood. Most bakeries back then, including the bakery my aunt always took me to, had pink boxes, so I associate it with delicious, freshly baked treats. Maybe pink desserts do taste better or maybe our minds just tell us that. Either way, if you love pink treats, you’ll love these cookies.

Pink velvet is similar to red velvet, but without the cocoa powder and red food color. The texture should be somewhat velvety, like red velvet cake. I have yet to taste a velvety red velvet cookie, but I think the texture of these cookies is pretty velvety as long as they’re not over baked. Pink velvet desserts are typically vanilla flavored. I upgraded the flavor by adding a touch of cherry flavoring. It’s not enough to give you cherry flavored cookies, but it will add depth to vanilla flavored treats. It’s an old bakery trick that I learned years ago that adds a fruity note in the background.

For best baking results, I recommend using a scale to weigh your ingredients, especially your dry ingredients. If you love baking, you should invest in a food scale if you don’t already have one.

To watch the Pink Velvet Cookies TikTok video, click here. To watch the Pink Velvet Cookies Instagram video, click here.

Pink Velvet Cookies

Pink vanilla flavored crinkle cookies with chewy exteriors and soft, velvety centers
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 14 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¾ cups (7 7/8 ounces) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 3 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • scant ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon natural cherry flavoring See notes below*
  • 1 small pea size drop pink gel food color I used Americolor deep pink**

Optional

  • ½ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
  • In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and oil until light and fluffy.
  • Beat egg whites into butter mixture in two addition, until well combined.
  • Beat in extracts until well combined.
  • Add gel food color, a little at a time with a toothpick, until desired shade of pink is reached. (Adding remaining ingredients will lighten the color slightly.) Beat until evenly distributed.
  • Add flour mixture to batter and beat just until combined. Mix in white chocolate chips if using.
  • Roll dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons each. I used a #30 portion scoop.*** Roll dough very generously in powdered sugar. Place two inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
  • Bake until cookies are puffed and tops are set, about 11-13 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

Notes

*The cherry flavoring in this recipe is not intended to make a cherry flavored cookie. The addition of cherry flavoring adds a subtle fruity note. You can also use pure cherry extract. Use a bit less (scant 1/2 teaspoon)  because extracts tend to be stronger than flavorings. DO NOT use imitation cherry extract. It has a medicinal flavor that will disappoint you. If you want your cookies to be cherry or strawberry flavor, reduce vanilla extract to 1/2 teaspoon and  use 1- 1 1/2 teaspoons of natural cherry or strawberry flavoring.
**To find the pink gel food color I used, click here.
***To find the portion scoop I used, click here.
This recipe was updated on 2/14/23.
Keyword cookies, pink velvet

Fairy Tale Meringues

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Fairy tale meringue cookies

Sometimes we need a little magic in our lives. These pretty, dainty meringue cookies sparked a bit of magic in my life that I want to share with you. It started when I washed some beautiful little violas. Watching them float in a bowl of clear water was positively therapeutic. After pressing and weighing them down with a heavy book overnight, the reveal of perfectly flat, delicate blossoms was so satisfying. The process of making meringue is also very satisfying for me. I love the moment when the frothy egg and sugar mixture magically turns to glossy, billowy sweetness.

Piping the meringue circles was fun! I traced circles on the bottom of the parchment paper to use as a guide for stress-free piping. I used white chocolate to fill the center of the meringue circles, but you can also use white chocolate chips or candy melts. You can use any small edible flowers or flower petals. Feel free to express your creativity! Try using sprinkles, edible glitter or tint the meringue mixture with a few drops of gel food color.

fairy tale meringue cookies

 

Fairy Tale Meringues

by Mari Vasseur
Meringue cookies filled with white chocolate and topped with pressed edible flowers
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients
  

Pressed edible flowers

  • 24-30 small edible flowers

Meringue cookies

  • 4 large egg whites
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 cup (200g) fine granulated sugar
  • â…› teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 1 cup (170g) chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips

Instructions
 

Pressed edible flowers

  • Gently wash the edible flowers. Pat dry with paper towels.
  • Press between parchment paper. Weigh down with a heavy book for at least 24 hours.

Meringue cookies

  • Beat the egg whites, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat to soft peaks. Continue beating and gradually add thensugar and almond extract.
  • Turn mixer to up to high speed and beat to glossy, stiff peaks.
  • Preheat oven to 200ºF (95ºC. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Transfer the whipped meringue to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. I used Ateco #864*
  • Pipe 2-inch circles about an inch apart onto prepared baking sheets.
  • Bake for one hour. Turn off the oven and let the meringues cool in oven.
  • In a microwave safe container, microwave white chocolate for 10 second intervals until melted or melt on the stovetop in a double boiler.
  • Transfer the melted white chocolate to a squeeze bottle or a piping bag. Fill the centers of the meringue circles with white chocolate. Top each one with a pressed flower. Let chocolate set at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.

Notes

*To find Ateco tip #864, click here.
Keyword cookies, meringues