24-Crust cookies

This is where the joke of the April theme of the Taxman Cometh really comes into its own.

Mind the pun.

Monday was April 15th. This means that all the taxes owed had to be paid or postmarked Monday April 15.

Yeah, I did the taxes. Unsurprisingly we owed. A not unsubstantial amount. We’re double income no kids (Dinks) of course we owed.

The amount I am putting down to the discrepancy in our take homes and the RA job that is paying for school. The RA job does withhold taxes but not enough. I will see if I can change that to withhold 75% of the money there.

The make of the week is crust cookies.

The joke/pun is that after paying for taxes we have to live on crumbs.

Badum-tss.

My coworker got it. Especially after I told him that we’d been living large the first two weeks of the month with the Millionaires Shortbread and the Billionaire bites we had to pay the taxes.

He laughed and laughed.

But crust cookies are awesome no matter what time of year.

It is pie crust, leftover or otherwise, melted butter, and cinnamon sugar.

Sublime.

Even after paying taxes.

Yes, I did make a special batch for the night folks who had never heard of such a thing.

Boy, are they in for a treat.

Cookie Thursday 4/11/24- Billionaire Bites

The highest week of April’s theme of the Taxman Cometh.

Taxes are due on Monday.

I know it.

My husband reminds me of it DAILY.

My email knows it because it reminds me of it DAILY.

Last week’s cookie was Millionaire Shortbread.

Are you picking up on the way the cookies are going?

This week’s cookie is the Billionaire Bites.

This is a no-bake recipe.

11 oz caramel, melted over low-medium heat with 1 tbs of water until smooth

1 c rice krispies

1 1/2 c pecans. The recipe didn’t call for toasting. I did that all on my own.

Mix all of these together and portion out by the teaspoonfuls. The mixture is very sticky.

I let them dry overnight before I covered them in chocolate. They were still very sticky. The humidity of days of rain did not help. I am not sure if it is the fact that it’s been raining for days but the melting of 2 c melting chocolate wafers did not go smoothly until I added about a tablespoonful of coconut oil.

Dip the bites into the chocolate.

Start running out of chocolate halfway through. Decide to call those ones half-naked billionaires.

Get mad at the existence of billionaires. These are people who have billions of dollars when there is suffering and do little to help. You know the ones.

Let chocolate dry and package them up in a container for the trip to the hospital.

I don’t think anyone is going to get the half-naked billionaire joke. Perhaps if I named them the emperor is half naked they would get it. Maybe not.

Back to taxes being due on Monday. I will do the groundwork of the taxes tonight and file them. I won’t pay until Monday. The government will get my money when it is due. And not before. Even if is is only four days before. It is the principle of the thing.

Cookie Thursday 4/4/24- millionaire shortbread

Welcome to April in Cookie Thursday is a Thing. The theme for the month is the Taxman Cometh. Appropriate for April, no?

No, our taxes are not done. I wanted to get through the two assignments due this week. And then I’ll do the taxes. I have all the documents.

We always pay and with the 2017 tax breaks sunsetting for normal Americans who are not rich, I am anticipating a big bill. Even though I am in school that should theoretically offset some of that.

Some of my coworkers who have children are finding out they have to pay federal taxes for the first time. I remind them that since we are not the wealthy ones that Congress is so concerned about they put an end date to the 2017 tax breaks. A reminder that the corporate tax breaks do not have an end date. Makes you wonder about your worth as an American, doesn’t it?

This week’s make is the millionaire shortbread. This is a triple-layer cookie. There is a shortbread base, a caramel center, and a chocolate topping.

As always, I have thoughts. I should have scored the chocolate when it was half-set. I think then the caramel layer wouldn’t squish out as much. Because the caramel layer didn’t set appropriately.

The cookies are still delicious. Messy, but delicious.

Cookie Thursday 2/29/24-jalapeno chocolate chip cookies

To cap off the month’s theme of favorites I made jalapeno chocolate chip cookies. This is the department’s hands-down favorite. I mean, I get the appeal. This is the cookie I was going to make last week before I got horribly sick on Thursday. I had already written the week’s selection on the board on Wednesday and then… I did not bake on Thursday. I barely got out of bed.

My stamina remains in the toilet and I have to be careful how much I do.

However, knowing that these are a crowd favorite, I did not want to disappoint a second time. My brain went off this morning at 0619. Again. I don’t think I’ve slept past 0700 since last week. There was also a hospital meeting at 0730 AND the 4th quarter awards at 1030. I did what any other workaholic would do, I got up and mixed the cookies. The first tray went into the oven at 0715. The meeting began and went on. Thank goodness for Zoom. I engaged when I was asked to engage and offered up ideas for the group. The meeting ended at 0815 and the last tray of cookies came out at 0832.

Neat.

However, I noticed that the cookies were not baking up to their usual cookie-ness. They were tender and flat. I think the baking soda is going bad, although I JUST BOUGHT IT in December. At least they tasted the same.

The jalapenos were not very hot at all. I had gotten them for free from a farmer I know back in September. I processed them to freeze them for use in cookies. I did have them come to room temperature before baking.

When I dropped the cookies today and rewrote what the make was on the board, one of the other nurses told me that some people were hot about no cookies last week. Especially, no jalapeno chocolate chip cookies last week.

Oh, well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Cookie Thursday 2/8/24-cheese straw cookies

Continuing on February’s theme of Tracie’s Favorites, cheese straw cookies.

I know, I just did a cheese month in January. Yes, there is still that much cheese.

I don’t care. This is what Tracie asked for.

I did ask qualifying questions. Whether what she had in mind was pepper jelly thumbprints, cheese straws, or pimento cheese straws. She chose straight-up cheese straw cookies.

Okay then.

All of these three cookies have the same base. Flour, butter, and shredded cheese.

It is the application of how much and what to do with it that is a bit different.

These are not a roll-out cookie. So there will be no chilling of the dough. As always, I am going to be doubling down on the spices. The recipe I am using asks for 1/8 tsp garlic powder. Um, no. I don’t think so.

Since I will not be rolling these out, I will use my smallest cookie scoop to portion out the dough balls. And bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven.

There is also the question of how crispy do I want to make these bakes? The longer the cookies are in the oven, the crispier they get of course. But I want a bit of chewiness to them.

The cheddar cheese should not be bagged cheese. There are anti-clumping ingredients added to the cheese when it is packaged. I will be grating my own.

Also, my grater was last seen while making Christmas dinner. I have looked everywhere. Either it got thrown out by mistake, or broken and then thrown out, no one knows. Moment of silence for one of the OG wedding gifts. It served me well for over 25 years.

I bought a new one. Did you know that they are not dishwasher-safe? Probably explains why it broke/got thrown away/ran away.

Cookie Thursday is a Thing 1/25/24-white cheddar shortbread

It is the last Thursday of the Why is There So MUCH Cheese? January theme. I added the caps on much because there is still so much cheese. But… I can see the bottom of the cheese drawer so that is something.

This was a very simple recipe. 2 c flour, 2 sticks butter, 2 c cheese. Spices. Bake at 375.

The original recipe called this a shortbread and also wanted the dough mixed in a stand mixer. I can see why this is called a shortbread but I didn’t think the mixer would work. So I used the food processor.

I had to add water to make the ingredients bind together because they would not. All I had after 30 seconds of food processing was fluffy white powder. After I added the water, the dough came together. I pinched off small pieces of it and rolled the balls. The recipe also calls for pressing the balls with the bottom of a glass. I hate to do that because the dough balls will stick to the glass and it just gets messy. I used my fingers.

To bring it back to the OR, why are there still so many appendixes out there? Yeah, statistically not everyone has their appendix removed. I have mine, and so does my sister, and husband, and mother. Not my brother though, he’s the only one in the family that has had it removed. And in the same thought, why are there still so many gallbladders out there. Watch what you eat, people!

Cookie Thursday 12/28/23-the last cookie of the year, toffee crackers

This is the last Thursday of 2023. That means it is the last Cookie Thursday is a Thing or 2023.

It was also a very big day for my mom. She was going to have surgery. And I was going to be her helper in the OR, and, more importantly, her driver.

Okay.

So I make cookies on Wednesday.

But what holiday cookie to make to keep up with the theme?

I went to my baking pantry to find inspiration.

What I didn’t find was the club crackers that I had. I must have put them somewhere else.

But I did find tea cookies. That’s what it said on the package. These were similar to naked hobnobs. See also, biscuits in Britain.

After finding them in the pantry, I decided to make toffee crackers with chocolate on top. This also goes by the name Christmas Crack.

Oven 350-degree Fahrenheit

1 c butter melted

1 c brown sugar

cook together until boiling and boil for 5 minutes

The entire package of tea cookies on a cookie sheet, laid out in a single layer.

It is best to do this while the butter and brown sugar are doing their thing.

Top the cookies with the toffee, making sure to cover all the corners.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Pull from oven and top with chocolate chips, about 1 cup. Wait until the chocolate starts to get glassy before spreading the now melty chocolate over the toffee-covered cookies.

This recipe also works with saltines, club crackers, Ritz crackers, graham crackers, matzoh crackers, and pretzels.