Cranberry Dark Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Bars-Week 6

Oh my people, we are at week 6 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas cookies! I thought all week that this is week 5, it has been that kind of week. These weeks just keep going by quicker and quicker! I don't know about you, but I am excited to see all the Christmas decorations going up in the stores and I have noticed the holiday commercials starting to show up. :)



This week I needed something comforting and easy. I went back to the Oatmeal Raisin cookies I made for Week 2, subbed the raisins for dried cranberries and added some dark chocolate. I think I like cookie form better than the bar form, but the hubby loved them, even though he doesn't like cranberries.



Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bars

Adapted from: Quaker Oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups oats

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup dark chocolate chunks



Heat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats, cranberries and chocolate; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Potato Candy-Week 5

One of things that I remember my mom making every Christmas is this potato candy. She learned from her granny, who is someone I wished I could have known. I hear I am just like she was. Before now, I never could get this candy to turn out. It is strange to me how when you add powdered sugar to a boiled potato, it liquefies...resulting in adding more sugar until it becomes a ball of dough. So before now, I would cheat. I would take a can of vanilla frosting and a 1 lb box of powdered sugar mix it all together until a ball would form. Hey, it worked for me and my mother would always say "your granny would not be proud", in my defense, I never met the woman so how would I know? She should have left me some sort of book. :)

Week 5 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies is here and that leaves 7 more weeks of some yummy things! I can now say that my Great Granny would be proud of me for making this the way she would. I now don't have to buy the canned stuff, because I now have the potato candy making as a success!

I think I should go ahead and tell you that I don't have an exact recipe, I'll just kind of explain how I did it. :)

Potato Candy

1 small potato, peeled, quartered and boiled until done

2lb bag of powdered sugar

Peanut Butter

Put the cooled potato in a medium bowl (I used my mixer with the paddle attachment) slowly add the powdered sugar, the potato will become liquefied, keep adding the powdered sugar until it forms a ball. You won't use the whole bag of powdered sugar, but you may need a little more or less than the 1 lb box. Once you have a ball, lightly dust your workspace with the powdered sugar and roll out the dough to the thickness that you like. Spread with peanut butter, and again, this is to your liking add as much or as little, just make sure that if you add more that your seam is sealed so it doesn't leak out when rolled up. Roll you dough pinwheel style and once rolled slice into slices.

Week 5 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Maggot Pudding with cockroaches for The #GreatHallowTweet Bloghop

Day 2 of The #GreatHallowTweet Bloghop and I give you maggot pudding with cockroaches. Sounds delicious, huh? Don't be afraid...it really is tasty!

Make sure to visit the links on the sidebar for more Halloweenie treats!!

Maggot pudding with cockroaches

1 3/4 cup water
1/2 cup rice
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup fat free milk
3 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup cranberries, or more for your tasting

Put the water in a medium saucepan and heat on medium heat until boiling. Add rice and salt and cook until water is absorbed, about 30-45 minutes. Add the milk, honey and cranberries and cook for 10 more minutes until thickened and creamy. Serve warm or chilled.

Orange Chocolate Dirt Balls-The #GreatHallowTweet Bloghop

It is day 1 of the #GreatHallowTweet Bloghop hosted by Renee from Flamingo Musings, and it is sure to be a ton of fun and give lots and lots of those Halloween treats that we love...either it be simple and sweet...or gross, either way..check out the linky on the sidebar and see what 17 other bloggers are coming up with.

For today, I chose to go a little short and sweet but something that just says Halloween when you look at them. Orange chocolate dirt balls, or oreo bon bons. When I think of Halloween, sweet comes to mind...chocolate, candy bars...the sticky gummy candies..cookies. So what better way for me to kick off this week than these little balls. You have the darkness, the blackness...from the oreo cookies and then the hard shell of the orange chocolate...the perfect colors for the day right?

Dirt Balls

1 package of oreo cookies
1 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 package of white chocolate melts, I used Wilton Candy Melts

Put all the Oreo cookies in a food processor and process until all cookies are finely crushed. Put into a medium bowl and mix with the cream cheese. Roll into balls and put onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.

Melt the candy melts in a double boiler and dip the oreo balls until completely covered. Place back on the waxed paper and let sit until the chocolate is set..or if you are like me and not that patient..put into the freezer for a minute or two.

Candied Ginger Butter Cookies-Week 4

A few week ago Beth sent me a package of candied ginger. I wasn't sure what I would do with it so I thought I might just munch on it...have you ever tried it?? Boy, does it have a bite to it! I don't think that will become my snack of choice. So, while flipping through some old magazines, I came across this cookie and knew that it would be perfect to use the ginger and this weeks cookie.

Yes, we are at week 4 of cookies and I am still just as excited each week as the first to see what everyone comes up with. This cookie was not at all what I expected, but you know what? I love it! It is kind of like a spiced up shortbread, but soft and chewy in the middle. And you know, I really like the bits of the ginger in them. I will be making them again and think I will add a little more of the chopped candied ginger.

Candied Ginger Butter Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp crystallized ginger, finely chopped


2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 tsp shortening


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in the ground ginger, the cinnamon, and salt until combined. Using a wooden spoon, gradually stir in flour and the crystallized ginger.



Divide dough in half. On the prepared cookie sheet, press one portion of dough into a 10x2 1/2 inch rectangle. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes or until top is golden brown and edges are set. Cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Cut rectangle crosswise into 1/2 inch wide sticks. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. Repeat with the remaining dough.



Melt the chocolate and shortening in a small bowl in the microwave until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies and let stand until the chocolate sets.

Week 4 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Peach Crumb Pie Bites

With it finally feeling like fall here, this week anyways, we did have a few days last week with temps back near 90. I wanted to have one last taste of Summer and these hit the spot. With them being two bite size, just grab and go, only I grabbed and went several times! Although I went with peach filling, you can always change up the fruit filling..apple, cherry, pear..whatever your tastebuds are calling for!

There are a couple of things I will tell you about the recipes. The dough recipe makes 24 mini pies. The filling recipe makes about double of what you need..so make it and freeze half, or double your dough and make more of these babies...I am sure you won't get any complaints. :) And the crumb topping makes double of what you will need too, so you may want to half that recipe.

Peach Crumb Pie Bites

Dough:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powder sugar
1 cup flour

Filling:
4 large peaches, peeled, pitted, and finely chopped
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Crumb topping
1/2 cup flour
1/4 sugar
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, room temperature

Crust:
Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until well incorporated. Add the flour and mix scraping down the sides until just combined. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky. Scoop and roll into small 1 inch balls and place in the cups of an ungreased mini-muffin tin. Press in the bottom and up the sides of the cups in the muffin tins. Set aside the shells. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Filling:
Put the peaches, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until peaches are tender, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

Crumb topping: Mix the flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl with a fork. Cut the butter in using two butter knives until it resembles small peas.

Place a small scoop of the peach filling into each mini shell, filling to the top. Sprinkle on a good amount of the crumb topping pressing slightly to adhere. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is slightly browned and the shells are a golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 3 minutes. remove them from the pan and let them cool on a cooling rack.

Whoopie Pies-Week 3

This week I chose to go with whoopie pies. It is my son, Blake's, birthday so these were perfect for today. There are so many ways you can make them. I have made them before a while back, but wanted to go with a "cake" flavor this time around. You can definitely make these festive using Christmas sprinkles or color the batter. The filling possibilities are endless as well.

So, here we are at week 3, leaving 9 more to go!! There are over 50 cookie bakers, so that is alot of cookies each week! I don't think that any of us will have any trouble making our trays for this year!

Birthday Cake Whoopie Pies

For the cookies:

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
½ cup milk


Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk to combine. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the bowl, alternating with with the milk, and beating each addition just until incorporated.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop your batter and place an inch or two apart. Bake 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are set (they should not brown.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with any remaining batter as necessary.

Buttercream:
1 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk

Cream the butter and vanilla together, gradually add the powdered sugar and milk until you get the consistency you want. Add more as needed.

Chocolate Buttercream: Use the above recipe and add 4 heaping Tbsp.

Week 3 Twelve Weeks of Christmas: