Sunday, December 21, 2008

Holiday baking

I'll admit, I've been slacking a little bit this year in the holiday baking department. I decided to remedy the situation today by baking up some treats for our friends, family and coworkers.

First up were Dorie Greenspan's world peace cookies. People have been raving about these cookies for years, but for some reason I just never got around to trying them. I'm glad I finally made the recipe, because these really are outstanding cookies. The ingredients are fairly common, and the technique simple, but the addition of fleur de sel to the dough really takes these cookies to the next level. I only got to taste one cookie, but I think I'll be keeping a roll of this dough in the freezer from now on.


Once the cookies were out of the oven and cooling, I made a batch of red velvet cupcakes. I will be completely honest and tell you that I used a Sprinkles mix. I'm not usually a cake mix person; I prefer to cook from scratch. However, I received this mix as a gift, and I had a really excellent red velvet cupcake at Sprinkles in Beverly Hills a few months ago. The cupcakes are frosted with a cream cheese icing and decorated with one of Sprinkles' signature dots.

The cupcakes were quite good, but not as good as the one I had in the actual bakery. I'm sure the formula is slightly different. Nevertheless, they're delicious and festive, and that's really what matters during this time of the year!


23 comments:

eatme_delicious said...

I still need to make those world peace cookies! I must pick up some fleur de sel.

Srikitchen said...

looks delicious and mouthwatering!

Robin said...

Your cookies turned out perfectly! Yes you do need to save some for yourself!

Pam said...

I think boty look delicious. Love that they are called peace cookies.

CookiePie said...

Both look so delicious! I haven't made those world peace cookies yet, but everyone raves about them... have to give them a try!

The Blonde Duck said...

They look fabulous! Definately a recipe for world peace!

Rosie Hawthorne said...

I actually started to make those World Peace cookies yesterday, but wouldn't have had time to refrigerate the dough, as I was on a mission.

Sarah said...

mmm...red velvet. i love that! and your cookies look great. I will have to try them!

grace said...

slacking? nonsense. slacking is what i've been doing the last two days, waiting to fly home for christmas. :)
great cookies, and the cupcakes are quite festive. :)

Culinary Wannabe said...

I wonder why the cookies are called "world peace?" Maybe if everyone ate a cookie we would all be happy? :)

Judy said...

The cupcakes are adorable and the cookies look good too. I've never tried world peace cookies. They sound interesting.

Maria said...

World peace cookies are the BEST!

The Blonde Duck said...

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas!

Erica said...

I've never heard of those cookies before but they look really good! I made one of my breads from a mix today...isn't it funny that once you become a food blogger you feel almost guilty about things like that hahah. Happy Holidays!

susan said...

mmm, i've heard some bad things about those sprinkles mixes. and im sure ur right that something is different about the box mix and the bakery's. and oh my! your world peace cookies look amazing!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Lovely cookies and cupcakes!!

Merry Christmas Eve, Sara!!

Robin said...

Happy Holidays Sara! Hope you have a wonderful Holiday time!

Michelle said...

Ohmigosh....Sara you have introduced me to another food blog. I'm in trouble now! Lol! Thank you for visiting me! Those cookies look heavenly!!! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Mary Bergfeld said...

Sara, thanks for stopping by my place. You have a beautiful blog and your cookies look outstanding. Happy holidays. Mary

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Nice baking! Droolworthy!

Merry christmas and Happy Holidays!

Cheers,

Rosa

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

Merry Christmas!

alexandra's kitchen said...

I have been a total slacker this year too in regard to the holiday baking. Why I wonder? I'm glad you chose the World Peace cookies — they are one of my favorite cookies. I had actually planned on making them tonight and never got around to it. Slacker!

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

Those world peace cookies are SO good! I'm surprised you liked the Sprinkles mix. I've heard a lot of bad reviews, and when I tried it, the cupcakes were very bland... :(

Maybe you got a good one! Lol