Day 11 of Christmas Cookies

I don't know what it is about the combination of peanut butter and chocolate that makes men go crazy, but they do! Every man in my life always requests peanut butter and chocolate treats from me. Whether it be cakes, truffles or cookies, they can't get enough. The other night when I was searching for a recipe for today, I was flipping through my cookbooks and reading the names out loud to my husband. And honestly, Mike could care less which cookie I make. He doesn't really like sweets at all and has been doing me huge favors by tasting these cookies for me. When I said the name of this cookie, he looked up and said "Yes! That one! I don't care what it looks like. Make that one."

Well alrighty then. We have a winner. He actually took the majority of the cookies to work with him today to eat and maybe share with his Christmas helper. The chocolate in these cookies is really mellow and not too pronounced. I suppose you could add more chocolate but I'm not sure what that would do to the texture. If you try it, let me know!


I do have to say, these ended up being a huge pain in the butt to make and I almost threw in the towel. I'm not sure why either. Maybe I was just having an off day but the recipe should have made around 120 cookies and after all the broken cookies, I ended up with around 75. But they are delicious. I even tasted one. Shhh!



Two-Tone Peanut Butter Slices

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate melted and slightly cooled

In a large mixing bowl beat peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined scraping sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.

Divide the dough in half. Stir melted chocolate into one half of the dough. Divide each dough portion in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 10 inch long log. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap and chill about 1 hour or until firm.

Cut logs in half lengthwise. Place cut side of one peanut butter log and the cut side of one chocolate log together. Press to seal. Roll the log lightly to smooth seams. Repeat with remaining log halves. Wrap and chill logs about 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 375. Cut two-tone logs into 1/4 inch slices. Place slices 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes or until edges are light brown and slightly firm. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Day 10 of Christmas Cookies

Day 10! Can you believe it? We're so close to Christmas. I am truly savoring every minute of this holiday season. I hope you all are inspired to do the same. Let's not just celebrate Christmas one day of the year by gorging on gifts. Christmas is so much more than that. That particular part should be the least important. I'm really trying to teach my children that this year and being an example in that is the best teaching tool we have as parents.

Today's cookies are a family tradition from when I was growing up. Not a single year has passed since I was a wee one, that these weren't made. Who knows, maybe my Mom grew up with them too. I've never asked.

They are yummy and whimsical. Your inner child will swoon. It's also another one that kids can help with. Mine love helping with any baking task I give them, especially if it involves playing with dough.


Candy Cane Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Red food coloring
Candy canes or peppermint hard candies ground up
Sugar

In a large bowl cream butter, shortening and sugar. Mix in egg, almond extract, and vanilla until creamy. Stir in flour and salt and mix until well combined.

Divide dough in half. Mix red food coloring into one half. I like to use Americolor Super Red gel coloring. You get a really nice red without thinning the dough out.

Wrap each half and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375.

Take 1 rounded teaspoon of each color dough and roll them each into 4 inch ropes. Twist them together and turn the top into a crook. Gently place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Mix your ground candy canes with an equal amount of sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle each cookie with the mixture before baking.

Bake for 9 minutes or until just barely golden brown on the edges. Let sit on the cookie sheet for a minute and then carefully remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.


Tomorrow's cookies will be dedicated to the men in my life who always request this combination. Stay tuned!

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

Spongebob Squarepants!

Today's Christmas cookie is posted just below but I wanted to also post the cake I made this weekend for a little boy's first birthday. Nothing too fancy. Just a sheet cake with Spongebob on it and then his smash cake was a little Krabby Patty cake. I thought they turned out cute. If you lift the top "bun" of the Krabby Patty, you could see that I put lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup and mustard on it. It was so much fun to make.

Day 9 of Christmas Cookies

I know. I know. Another chocolate and mint combo cookie, but like I said, it's my favorite and I really couldn't resist making these cookies. My kids didn't get to try these ones this time which I kind of feel bad about. I brought the whole plate of cookies to my church's women's meeting last night and let the ladies be the taste testers for this one. The consensus was that these cookies rock! It was tough for me not to try one. They look really elegant too. I'm thinking I will have to make this one again so my kids can try them and I can include them in the cookie packages going out.

This recipe came from the Joy of Cooking and I added the extra chocolate on top. It's a little bit more work than any of the other recipes so far but I think they're worth it judging from last night's reactions!


Chocolate Mint Surprises

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled but not firm and cut into small pieces
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package (28 pieces) Andes chocolate thin mints

Place the butter and flour in a large bowl. Use a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingertips to cut the butter into the flour until the mixtures resembles fine crumbs.

In a small bowl beat the egg yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla together with a fork until well blended. Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Dump the bowl contents onto a work space and knead until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half. Place each half in between 2 large sheets of parchment paper. Roll out to a generous 1/8 inch thick, checking the underside of the dough and smoothing any creases as you go.

Keeping the dough in the paper, lay the rolled dough on a baking sheet and freeze until cold and slightly firm, about 20 minutes.

Position the rack to the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350. Grease cookie sheets.

Working with one portion at a time (leave the other half in the freezer) gently peel away one side of parchment paper and replace. (This will make it easier to lift the cookies from the paper later.) Peel away and discard the second sheet.

Cut out the cookies using a fluted or plain round 2 1/4 inch cutter (or the rim of a small glass), or cut to a size just large enough that the thin mints will fit inside of it. With a spatula transfer the cookies to the cookies sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Roll any remaining dough scraps between the paper and rechill if necessary before making more cuts.

Bake 1 sheet at a time, just until the cookies are lightly colored on top and slightly darker at the edges, 9-14 minutes. Rotate the sheet halfway through baking for even browning. Remove the sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies stand just until firm enough to lift but still hot. Turn half of the cookies upside down and immediately cover the bottom with 1 Andes chocolate thin mint. Cover with the cookie tops, top up, and press down lightly. Let the sandwiches stand on the cookie sheets until the mints are melted. Transfer the sandwiches to a cooling rack to cool completely and the filling is set. During the cooling process, adjust any sandwiches the slip askew.

My recipe only made 21 cookies. I melted the remaining Andes mints in a small bowl over simmering water and drizzled it over the tops of the cookies.



Don't those just look scrumptious?

Day 8 of Christmas Cookies

Today's cookie uses my personal favorite flavor combination; chocolate and mint. (Mmmm mmmm Clark) The dough smelled like Thin Mints. I haven't tasted the actual cookie, but my kids really, really liked them.

The only suggestion I would make is to make sure when you roll the dough in powdered sugar, get a nice thick coating on them. If there's not enough, the powdered sugar kind of absorbs into the cookie while baking and you don't get the cool snow-top effect. I (well Bella actually) rolled them all once then did a second coating to make sure they were good.

My Ultimate Cookie Book is getting good and worn out this month!


Chocolate Mint Snow-Top Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon mint flavoring
Powdered sugar

In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small saucepan heat and stir 1 cup of the chocolate pieces over low heat until smooth. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in melted chocolate, the eggs, vanilla, and mint. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate pieces. Cover and chill dough in the freezer for about 30 minutes or until easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 350. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar to coat. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until tops are crackled. Let stand for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to a wire rack to cool

Day 7 of Christmas Cookies

So here we are. We've finished 1 week's worth of cookie recipes. Either your freezer is full and your friends are loving you, or you haven't made any cookies yet. Come one! Get on it! This is so much fun and my family and I are really enjoying this project so far.

We had a really nice day with the family yesterday. We put up our tree and watched some Christmas movies. I thought it would be a good day to make decorated sugar cookies. You need some time to make these if you're going to decorate them with the cookie icing. But they are scrumptious!

The recipe comes from a famous cake decorator, Toba Garret. This is the recipe I use for my customers when they order sugar cookies. Now technically, they're not really sugar cookies. More of a butter cookie, but I think that works out so much better when paired with the really sweet icing. The cookie kind of balances out the sweetness from the icing. I also love that you don't need to chill this dough. You can start rolling and cutting as soon as you're finished mixing. It's really nice.


Toba's Butter Cookies

1 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all purpose flour

Preheat your oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat. Add the four and baking powder and mix until combined but not over mixed. You can finish mixing by hand if needed.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to your desired thickness. Cut out in whatever shapes you like. Carefully place cut outs on cookie sheet and Bake for 6-10 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges. Move to wire rack to cool.

Cookie Icing

3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (if you need a pure white icing use clear vanilla)
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
3 tablespoons water or milk
3 tablespoons light corn syrup

You can do this by hand or in the bowl of an electric mixer. I do find the mixer adds a lot of air bubbles which will affect your finished cookie. Mix sugar, extracts and water together until thick and creamy. Add in the corn syrup and mix until well combined.

To thicken icing, add more powdered sugar. To thin, add more corn syrup. This recipe is very forgiving. You can change up the extracts to just about anything you want. Sometimes I add just a touch of almond and butter extracts too.

To ice your cookie, use a thicker icing in a pastry bag with a small round tip (like 2 or 3) or plastic baggie with just a small snip cut from the corner, to outline your design. Then use a thinner icing to "flood" or fill in your outline. At this point you can use edible glitter or sprinkles. Then set them on a rack to dry for at least a few hours.

I usually package these up in individual bags tied with a bow. They make beautiful little gifts and are seriously tasty.


If you're letting your kids help decorate, make up a bunch of colors of icing and make sure you either clamp the top of the pastry bag or tape it shut so they don't make such a big mess. They will have a blast!

Day 6 of Christmas Cookies

These cookies are probably my favorites. The smell of them holds so many great memories for me and they just smell and taste like Christmas to me. They are soft and chewy, which I love, with just the right amount of sweetness. Kids love to help roll them in the sugar too, so it's a definitely a great recipe to make with the family.

This recipe came from Martha Stewart.

Gingersnaps

3 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs well beaten
1/2 cup dark molasses
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
sugar for rolling

In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves together.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until creamy. Add the eggs, beating until fluffy. Add the molasses, lime juice and vanilla. Continue mixing until well combined. Gradually add the four mixture, beating as little as possible.

Divide the dough in half; wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. (The dough can be made a few days in advance and kept in the refrigerator.)

Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using your hands or my beloved cookie scoop, roll out dough into 3/4 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place them on the baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

One recipe makes a little more than 5 dozen cookies. Another great bang for your buck!