Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies | Midwest Food Photographers

Sugar cookies are the most versatile cookie for decorating. Perfect for any shape, icing, and sprinkle you can imagine. I can't say this is the best sugar cookie recipe in the world, but it might be your favorite. How do you know unless you try it?

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For a little while when we were younger, my brother and I spent a LOT of time icing cookies. His was done at Cheryl's Cookies and mine was at a deli that had a large variety of pastries and sweets. We both got really good at it, and I still find it comforting to take out a tray of cookies and smear the icing on. Maybe he and I will do a How-to video someday.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 egg yolk
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond and vanilla extracts, and egg yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill the dough for 8 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thickness, refrigerating remaining dough until ready to use. Cut into desired shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Leave cookies plain for frosting, or brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with candy sprinkles or colored sugar.
4. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light and golden brown. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

Homemade Orange Rolls | Columbus Ohio Food Photographer and Stylist

Pillsbury Orange Rolls have always been an all-time favorite of mine. I'd eat the entire can in a sitting if no one was watching. So, when I had leftover orange icing (recipe included below), what better to make than Homemade Orange Rolls? They would beat the store bought kind, right? Yup, they did. And I had just as hard a time  sharing them with others.

Warning: This is one of those recipes you have to let "rest." Which means work, then wait. Work some more, then wait. There's a wait time of an hour and fifteen minutes, then another wait time of 25 minutes, so don't expect to do this in a hurry.

Here's a picture to entice you.

Making the dough was easier than I thought it would be. Historically, I don't have much luck with homemade dough. This one came together just as the recipe said it would.

This recipe has you roll each of the rolls (I couldn't see how to avoid saying that!) individually. Since I'd never made rolls from scratch before, I followed the instructions, but I recently watched someone else make cinnamon rolls, and they laid the dough out in a rectangular sheet then poured the filling over it, and rolled the whole sheet up and cut it into pieces. This seems much faster. The knife might smoosh the rolls as they're being cut and the butter might squish out the ends, but I will try it that way next time anyway.

I might cook them just a little less next time. I like them a little gooey-er and less brown on top, but once I put the icing on and it all melded together, there was little that could be done to make them more perfect. The dough TASTED homemade, in the best way, and the icing was amazing. The rolls grew HUGE, so each roll was equivalent to 2-3 of the store bought kind.

A special recipe to share around the holidays, but consider making them on a normal weekend. Whomever you choose to share them with will be indebted to you. 


Homemade Orange Rolls (from myrecipes.com)

Ingredients

   Dough
* 1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
* 1/2 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
* 2 tablespoons butter, softened
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten
* 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
* Cooking spray

   "Filling" For Dough
* 1 stick butter, melted
* 3 tablespoons grated orange rind
* 3 tblsp cinnamon
* 1/2 cup sugar

   Icing (from Wilton.com)
* 1 stick butter, softened
* 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
* 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (about 2 lbs.)
* 1 tablespoons milk
* 1 tablespoon orange juice
* 1 tablespoon orange zest

* You can prepare icing ahead of time and refrigerate, covered. (Icing directions are listed at the end.)

* To prepare dough, dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons softened butter, salt, and egg, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 cups flour to yeast mixture; beat until smooth. Add 1 cup flour to yeast mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel sticky).
 
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour and 15 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)
 

Food Photographer | Columbus Ohio

Blog Crossover Series
with Hounds in the Kitchen

In this series, we're visiting with local food bloggers to share experiences, snap photos and hang out with the wonderful individuals creating food-related stories we just can't help but read!

Most recently, we visited Rachel Tayse of Hounds in the Kitchen! Rachel shares a variety of stories on her popular blog; everything from urban gardening, book reviews, week-long meal plans, local events, recipes, and her fam. She's a constant source of information! Rachel teaches cooking classes in kitchens around the city, most often at the Franklin Park Conservatory. Check out her events schedule here.

I spent the afternoon with Rachel, her daughter, and her intern, Keara. There were many activities, including, coloring eggs with all-natural dyes, feeding the chickens, playing with the pups and baking a "Dutch Baby." Rachel will be posting some each day during her egg-themed week, including recipes, at the links below!

http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2011/04/18/blow-out-eggs-photo-kitchen/
http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2011/04/19/making-and-using-natural-egg-dyes/

Want to learn more? Check out www.houndsinthekitchen.com for the rest of the Blog Crossover, and to read her latest posts! You can also follow her on Facebook.

Edible Columbus | Photographer

Here are a few shots from the Spring Issue of Edible Columbus, and a few extras that didn't make it in the magazine! Check out their website.

New Site Design, Coming Soon!

We'll be rolling out a whole new site within the next month, and we're really excited about it! There will be more information, more features, a newsletter option, testimonials, links, new portfolio images, and other great stuff! Check back in a few weeks to see all the changes!

Rising High

Check out the fun at the Grove City Balloon Festival!