Glazed Citrus Doodles

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Glaze Time: 5 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes
  
Recipe Source: Everyday Food (May 2012)

These are nice cookies that are a take-off on snickerdoodles, which I have never made. I liked them. They are a tiny bit of work because of glazing, but not too bad.

The recipe had a video, which is helpful to watch first. I am enjoying the daily videos from Everyday food.

Baked Orange Chicken

Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: B+

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 2006)

You can't be fooled by the "Baked" because the chicken is still sort of pan fried in a good amount of oil while it is baking. I do not think this is as good as the fried version. The texture doesn't turn out quite as good. However, it is still pretty good. Since I hate frying things just because it feels messy to me and wasteful to use all that oil that you can't really re-use, it is possible I might make this again. Mostly because I like to cook asian food for others and this would allow something to be cooking in the oven, and would allow another dish to be stir-fried at the same time.

The prep included the wait time for the marinade, so it wasn't a true 50 minutes of work. There was plenty of time to clean the kitchen, prep and steam some broccoli, etc.

Triple Citrus Bars

Crust Prep: 8 minutes
Crust Bake: 18-20 minutes
Filling Prep: 18 minutes
Filling Bake: 15-20 minutes
Cool Time: 3+ hours

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated Magazine (July 2006)

I sometimes cut bar cookies with a biscuit cutter and decorate the top, and I thought that would be nice with this bar cookie. However, the reality was that it was very hard to get the dessert out in one piece. The bottom separated from the top, and the top didn't look as pretty as I had to push on it. If I had biscuit cutters without handles on top, I could push up from the bottom and it would probably work better. I tired with a flower shaped cookie cutter and it almost worked, but a petal or two broke off.

No matter how they look, these taste great. They are not too sweet, and not too tangy (because of the orange mixed in.) Sometimes citrus desserts can taste a little metallic to me, but this is not the case with this dessert. I love the little flecks of zest that you can see in the bars.