One Cookie Recipe Can Yield Many Flavors By Using Extracts and Spices Wisely

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Linda_Murdock]Linda Murdock
Whether you are making cookies or buying them pre-packaged and ready for baking, there are several ways to add a little excitement to a plain sugar cookie. First of all buy or make the dough and separate it according to how many flavors you want. This may require more than one batch, depending upon how many total cookies you need.
Think about your audience and decide on the more common flavors that people like. Consider the season. Fruity flavors are good in the summer, mint and ginger may have more fans during the Christmas season. Look in your cupboard and see what extracts you have on hand. Also check to see if you have any of the more concentrated candy extracts to broaden your choice.
If you are making the cookies from scratch, leave out the vanilla extract and substitute something else for it in equal amounts. Using just a few drops of a candy extract will flavor it enough. Regular extracts like maple, anise and coconut can be substituted one for one. You may add coconut flakes to enrich the coconut flavor even more. Maple or other colored extract will darken the color of your cookie. To enhance the maple flavor, try using an equal amount of brown sugar in the recipe instead of the white sugar that is usually included.
If you are using a store-bought sugar cookie dough, you can go another route. Bake them up per the package instructions without adding any sugar to the top. Then make a plain frosting and add your flavoring extract to the frosting. Figure about � teaspoon of extract for every 1 to 1� cups of powdered sugar. You can add a few drops of food coloring to make it even more festive. Use green with mint extract, a few dashes of ground cinnamon in your red icing, yellow with lemon extract, etc.
A frosting will add more calories, so balance that with the idea of making and flavoring the dough instead. If you still think the frosting is a better idea, cut those calories by making a smaller cookie and use just a thin layer of icing or get artistic and just drizzle the icing back and forth across the cookie in thin lines.
The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Extracts are available in nutty, fruity and spicy varieties. Call to see if a local spice shop also carries a choice of extracts. I enjoy experimenting with root beer and coffee flavorings myself. Then of course, you can add the actual crushed nuts in with your matching almond, pistachio or pecan extract. Dried fruits will also work with fruity extracts, but fresh fruit often adds too much liquid to the dough.
If you do not like the sweetness of powdered sugar frostings, cut the sugary taste by adding two ounces of softened cream cheese to every cup of prepared frosting. This should not affect the flavor of whatever extract you may use. Don't be afraid to use a spice. Ground nutmeg combined with rum extract will make a plain cookie taste like eggnog. Ground cinnamon, cloves, ginger or coffee crystals may also be used instead of a liquid extract.
Instead of seeing cookie baking as a chore, think of it as an opportunity to experiment in taste. Now go create a happy accident.
Copyright 2011 by Linda K. Murdock. Linda is the author of A Busy Cook's Guide to Flavor-Packed Cookies & Bars. This book includes 63 different flavors with a cookie and bar recipe for each flavor, including Eggnog Cookies, Lime (like key lime pie), Root Beer, Curry Pecan and others. Smaller recipes, easy instructions and readily available ingredients attract busy bakers, who prefer more flavor and less sugar in their desserts. To learn more go to [http://bellwetherbooks.com/]http://bellwetherbooks.com
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?One-Cookie-Recipe-Can-Yield-Many-Flavors-By-Using-Extracts-and-Spices-Wisely&id=6664415] One Cookie Recipe Can Yield Many Flavors By Using Extracts and Spices Wisely