Week Two... Cookie Press

My cookie press skills leave something to be desired! Gotta do something about that, don't I?

I found my Mom's cookie press in a box of old kitchen tools. It is all aluminum, and was made sometime in the 1950s. I can't ever remember her using it. Since I hadn't used a cookie press before and making press "Tea Cookies" was the aim of this week's baking, I used one of the recipes included in the instruction booklet enclosed in the box with the press. I was amazed at all the tips and plates to make really fancy cookies. They were so Mom! "Bridge, anyone?"

I did not like the dough at all! Very sticky (it was supposed to be soft, but this stuff was "sticky"! I couldn't get it to stick to the cookie sheet, no matter how I tried). I use parchment when I'm baking, but the directions said to form the cookies onto an ungreased sheet and bake. When you removed the baking sheet from the oven, the cookies were supposed to be removed while still hot/warm. Not a good idea to omit the parchment... the cookies didn't stick badly, but they deformed when I slipped the cookie spat under them when I was moving them to the cooling rack. I added more Vanilla and Cinnamon to give these puppies some flavor, they were so blah. ..just nothing-tasting. Lemon would be a good choice, too... maybe I'll try changing the flavor next time. That and finding or making up a different recipe!

I got pretty frustrated with the cookie press, and made small drop cookies out of the dough so I could be done, too. (yeah, yeah...) Sprinkled some Demara Sugar on the tops of the small cookies for color and crunch. They weren't bad, just not spectacular. After I've had a chance to develop a "Tea Cookie" recipe that I can use in a cookie press, I'll post it. We'll have to wait a bit for that, I'm not in the mood..

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