A little break..

I hope all my blogger friends have had a wonderful Christmas and will have a Happy New Year!! I will be back after the new year, hopefully, with a couple of changes!!

Happy New Year!!

April

Christmas Cookie Finale-Gingerbread Men

Well, now, the past 12 weeks have past by so quickly, haven't they? Luckily, my family loves cookies and they didn't get tired of them, they are actually wondering which ones are next!

I am a firm believer that gingerbread men are a must on a cookie platter! They just make me smile when I see them. And maybe everyone doesn't like gingerbread, but they are so festive who can resist biting off their head or arm or maybe even the leg? :)

I have had so much fun baking along with Megan, Barbara, Megan, Kim and Denise these last weeks! You never knew what would be their choice of cookie each week and all of them are on my to make list! Thank you for cookie baking with me!!

Gingerbread
2/3 C brown sugar, packed
2/3 C molasses
1 t Ginger
1 t Cinnamon
1/2 t crushed cloves
3/4 T baking soda
2/3 C butter, softened
1 egg
5 C all purpose flour

Heat brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves to boiling point. Remove from heat, add baking soda, and pour over butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir until butter is melted, then stir in egg and flour thoroughly. Knead for a few minutes, then gather dough into a ball. Refrigerate dough until firm enough to roll easily. Roll on a lightly floured board and cut with shaped cutter of choice. Place on greased cookie sheet or parchment and bake in 325 degree oven for 8-12 minutes.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

How cute are these? I saw them on Giverslog and knew that I wanted to make them! Abby and I made them yesterday for her class and I can't wait to make more of them and play with it a little. We made these in ice cube trays, but want to try them in a sucker mold.

Instead of a packet of hot chocolate, you use one of these in a cup of hot milk! It can't get any easier than that! I did see somewhere where they flavored the white chocolate with raspberry oil, so they had raspberry hot chocolate on a stick! I am thinking peppermint! :)


Hot chocolate on a Stick

8 oz chocolate, any kind, milk, semi sweet, white
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Once it is melted, remove from the heat and add the cocoa, sugar and salt. Mix it until it is all combined. It will get really thick...like a frosting consistency. Once it is all mixed put the mixture into a baggie and snip of the corner and pipe it into your mold. I used a standard ice cube tray. Tap the ice tray on the counter to smooth it out and so that it can settle . Insert a stick and put it into the freezer for a few minutes until the chocolate hardens. Decorate it by dipping it into other chocolates or leave it plain.

Stir the stick into a 1 cup of hot milk, until it is dissolved.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies-Week 11

We are at week 11, just one more week to go! I still have so many more cookies that I want to make!!

This week I give you one of my favorites! These are really easy to make and will add a little wow factor on your platter. You can add the chocolate drizzle or leave them plain. Just make sure that you really drain and pat your cherries dry before you wrap the dough around them, or it won't stick.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

1 10oz jar maraschino cherries with stems, drained and juice reserved

1 Tbsp cherry juice

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Beat butter in bowl of electric mixer on medium high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder; beat until combined. Beat in the egg and 1 tsp reserved cherry juice. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer, stir in any remaining flour with wooden spoon.

Shape a scant 1 tsp of dough around each cherry. Place in 1 inch paper or foil baking cups and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the top looks dry.

Top with melted chocolate or your favorite chocolate glaze and top if sprinkles, if desired.

Sugar Glazed Almonds

Why is it that we only make tons of baked goods and candies at Christmas time? Sure, we think of then at the other holidays too, but for the most part at Christmas we make triple the amount. Don't get me wrong, I love it! I have made these for years. They are simple, and you can change up the flavor..add some orange zest, add some cinnamon or even rose water. Or just leave them plain and they taste like a honey roasted peanut, only in almond form.

Would someone please take them away from me, I can't stop eating them!!

Sugar Glazed Almonds

1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 cups whole almonds

Set aside an ungreased baking sheet. In a heavy 2-quart skillet, combine water and sugar. Place over high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a boil. Add almonds and stir continuously. Reduce heat to medium and stir almonds until mixture foams and turns to sugar. (This takes about 10-15 minutes.) Continue stirring as almonds become coated with sugar; sugar will begin to remelt and caramelize on the almonds. Remove from heat and turn out onto baking sheet. Using 2 forks, separate almonds into single nuts. Cool.

Variations:
For Glazed Orange-add 2 Tbsp grated orange zest at the beginning of cooking.
For Cinnamon-Add 1/4 tsp cinnamon at the beginning of cooking.
For Rose Water-At the end of cooking, sprinkle nuts with 2 tsp rose water and stir well.

Orange Vanilla Shortbread

We are at week 10 of thee 12 weeks of Christmas cookies. When we first started this, I thought it would take forever to finish it up, but now we only have 2 more weeks! There have been so many great cookie recipes during this and can't wait to see what the next weeks bring!

I saw this recipe in Sherry Yards book The Secret of Baking and was curious about the use of Orange Blossom Water. I had never seen it, much less needed to use it in a recipe. I knew that I wanted to try it. That was about a year ago. I don't know why I haven't made them sooner. I really like the flavor of them. They have a base of orange flavor with a little hint of a floral scent. And then the vanilla mellows it all out. The recipe said to roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick and cut into a shape, freeze for 15 minutes then bake. I chose to bake them in an 8x8 square dish and cut them into squares. They turned out a little more fluffy than the shortbread that I have made before. Maybe it is because I didn't roll it out? Not sure, but they still taste yummy! I think I might like to make this recipe and adapt it to this flavor.

Remember to see what Megan, Barbara, Megan, Denise and Kim baked up this week!

Orange Vanilla Shortbread

By: Sherry Yard

2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

2 Tbsp finely grated orange zest

1/8 tsp salt

1 Tbsp orange flower water

1 large egg, at room temperature

Sift together flour and baking soda in medium bowl and set aside

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle. Add the sugar, vanilla extract and scraped seeds from the bean, orange zest, salt and orange flower water. Cream on medium speed until it is smooth and lump free, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.

Add the egg and beat on low speed for 30 seconds, or until fully incorporated. Do not overbeat. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

On low speed, add the flour mixture. Beat until all the dry ingredients are incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. The dough will be gooey. Remove the dough from the mixer, scrape it onto a sheet of plastic film, press it into a 1/2-1 inch thick disk, wrap tightly, and chill for at least 1 hour. At this point, the dough will keep nicely, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month. (Thaw frozen dough at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until you can slice it.)

Dust a work surface lightly with flour. Place the dough between 2 sheets of lightly floured parchment paper, roll it out 1/4 inch thick, and freeze it for at least 2 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Adjust the rack to the lower third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

When the dough has frozen, carefully peel off the parchment and place the dough on a work surface dusted lightly with flour. Dip a 3 inch round cookie cutter in flour, then cut out the cookies. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets, alternating the rows like a checkerboard. Return the dough to the freezer for 15 minutes or more whenever it becomes too sticky to cut.

Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges, turning the sheet front to back halfway through the baking. Remove from the oven and carefully slide the parchment directly onto a work surface. Wait at least 5 minutes before serving or 30 minutes before storing the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.