seven minute frosting – Namaste Eats

You know what I love? Stories! Story time was always my favorite, but it got taken out of school about the same time we lost snack time and nap time. That was a sad day. And then they took away recess and the twisty slide and closed off the fire pole! It was tragic. I think we need a moment of silence.

…

Okay, now back to my non stop jibber jabber! YAY! Anyways, the point is that I have a story for you today (it even has pictures :D).

It all began over the summer with a warning from some friends.

But we had faith in ourselves, we knew that, come September, we could take whatever Junior Year threw at us.

We were wrong. So our new motto: Drink Coffee and Ignore the Circles Under Your Eyes. I don't actually love coffee all that much, so I drink about three pots of tea a day instead :) ...I'm still not entirely sure that is healthy — We were wrong. So our new motto: Drink Coffee and Ignore the Circles Under Your Eyes. I don’t actually love coffee all that much, so I drink about three pots of tea a day instead 🙂 …I’m still not entirely sure that is healthy

And then midterms came and basically we lived in a notecard and multiple choice question induced daze. And then the week of ten tests was over, and we all just kind of collapsed.

Wasn’t that a lovely story?! My favorite part is the bit where tonight, for the first time since September 5th, my homework is done before 10:30 at night. And with track practice cancelled due to the snow, I have been left with a lot of this thing called “spare time” on my hands. It is terribly strange, I had time to do yoga, eat dinner with my family, and now I even get to blog (and it has been far too long since I’ve been able to share recipes with all of you :D).

And since I haven’t blogged since August (I know, I know, CRAZY) I have more than a mountain of recipes waiting to share with all of you :). So today I think I’ll start with Hot Cocoa Cookies topped with Seven Minute Frosting (AKA Homemade Heavenly Flufflike Yumminess).

The Cookie:

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter (it may be winter and thus everything from the grass to the people is frozen solid, but you want your butter at room temperature, it’ll keep the cookies happy)

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla (If you actually follow this measurment I will personally come over and pour more into your bowl. I would say you should be shaking in your boots at the thought of it, but…uh…well…I’ve never been good at being scary, I didn’t even have scary Halloween costumes. )

Directions:

1. Beat the butter and the sugar for four minutes so that it is nice and fluffy. Make sure you apologize for your cruel methods.

2. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

3. Do yourself and your kitchen a favor and reduce your mixer to low; trust me it is not fun to find your entire kitchen (and the people in it) covered in flour! Now that you’ve saved yourself from a winter wonderland of a scene, add the flour slowly and beat until incorperated.

4. And now the waiting game begins! Refrigerate the dough for 1 to 24 hours and then roll to 1/8 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Personally my favorites are a nice and fat Christmas Tree, a Snowman, and a Gingerbread Man.

5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes. Once cooled, frost with a nice heaping spoonful of frosting 🙂 oh and smile, and perhaps sit down with a cookie and some tea and a book (I highly recommend The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale).

For the little bit of heaven to top your cookies with:
Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/3 cup cold water, 2 egg whites, and 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar in the top of a double broiler for 30 seconds. Place the top of the double broiler over the boiling water and beat on high speed for 7 minutes until the frosting forms stiff peaks. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla, and beat for 2-3 minutes more. Frost the cookies the day the frosting is made as it does not keep well in the fridge.