Wednesday, January 28, 2015

My blog has moved!

Hello and welcome to the Gourmet Girl!!

After 3 wonderful years, I decided it was time to relocate my site. It can now be found at:

http://www.gourmetgirl.wix.com/thegourmetgirl55

To continue receiving updates, don't forget to re-subscribe on the Home page. Thank you for all of your support over the years!

-Rachel

The Gourmet Girl

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Créme Brûlée Cookies



Are all sticking to your New Years Resolutions?

I have to admit, I have never really been into making New Years resolutions. It is actually kind of odd, since I am always planning and setting goals for myself. I literally have next five years of my life planned out already. For some reason, yearly resolutions have never drawn me. Maybe it's because I am already consistently setting goals. Either way, I think it can't hurt to set some goals. Really, what is wrong with being more ambitious? We just cannot let ourselves become discouraged if we do not meet those goals. We just have to keep working at them, until we are able to achieve them.

Do you love Créme Brûlée? If you do, I have found the next best thing: Créme Brûlée cookies. These cookies have all the flavor of creme brûlée without all of the work. These are best when made.  with a kitchen torch, but you can just broil them in the oven after you top them with the sugar. In my opinion, they are not overly sweet (although I do have a serious sweet tooth), which makes them a great option for people who do not like cloyingly sweet desserts. I hope you try out these decadent little cookies, and let me know what you think!

Recipe adapted from: Taste of Home

You will need:

6 Tbsp. butter softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp. canola oil

1 tsp. + 1/4 tsp. Vanilla Plus  (or vanilla extract)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 small package of cook n' serve vanilla pudding (prepared)

super fine (bakers sugar) for brûléeing cookies

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter 
and sugar until light and fluffy. 
Beat in egg, oil, and vanilla plus or extract.    
In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch, baking 
powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  
Press a deep indentation in center of each
 with the end of a wooden spoon handle.
Freeze cookies for 10 minutes before baking. 
Place cookies 2 inches apart on parchment paper lined 
baking sheets, and bake 8-10 minutes or until edges 
are light brown. 
While the cookies are baking, prepare the pudding according
 to the directions on the box. Add additional Vanilla plus 
or vanilla bean paste (if desired). 
Indent the center of the baked cookies with the bottom of a round
 measuring spoon. (This will create a larger vessel for the pudding.
 Fill each cookie with about  a teaspoon of cooled pudding. 
Top the pudding with a thin layer of super fine sugar. 
Brûlée the sugar with a kitchen torch. The sugar
 should turn a dark golden brown. The cookies will dark
 around the edges. Don’t worry, that is supposed to happen.  
Allow the shell  (on top of the cookie) to cool before serving.
Bon Appétit!