I've got the itch!!

I wasn't completely sure I would get the itch this year because of all that is going on in my life, but I got it alright. Loud and clear and desperately needing to be scratched. I'm needing to get my hands in the dirt. Like, for reals. I've been dreaming about it and everything.

My fall/winter garden hasn't done very well because of about 9 furry/feathered creatures who have taken up residence in my sanctuary. The carrots, which once filled an entire 3' by 6' bed didn't stand a chance. It's funny because when they all first started sprouting in their neat little rows that Mike and I marked out for them, we stood over them and laughed about what on earth we would do with all of those carrots. I guess the good Lord didn't want us to have to find out. Liberty showed them no mercy. After I replanted, the chickens then showed them who was boss, along with all of the lettuce, peas, beans, and all but 1 pumpkin. Remember how I said a few months ago that I was praying for more pumpkins? My prayer was answered. I had 9 growing nicely. But then my feathered friends decided I might be getting a big head about my pumpkin successes and brought me back to square 1, leaving only the original pumpkin.

Oh well. Such is life.

My tomatoes are still going, although very slowly since it is quite chilly out there. I get a few tomatoes a day and I'm happy.

But I'm still itching for a fresh start. I want to see seeds burst forth from the ground full of the promise of yummy meals to come. I want to bring in baskets and baskets full of veggies. So much so that I'm forced to give out of the abundance of it all.

I have big plans for my backyard this spring. Big plans. Plans that should overwhelm and scare me but no. I'm not shying away from this challenge. I'm definitely going to have to do some research on laying paving stones (hint hint) but this is my project and I will do it.

I've started my pepper and eggplant seeds. I did 6 kinds of peppers and 2 kinds of eggplant. I wanted to start my tomatoes this week too, but silly me left the bag of seed starting mix outside and Liberty had her way with it. The odds are stacked against me from the beginning.



It's going to be an exciting year. Can you feel it?

R.I.P little Bandit

My favorite chicken, Bandit, is no longer with us. I went out his morning to go feed and visit with the chickens and all came running to me except for the smallest, Bandit. Bandit was a bantam chicken (which just means a smaller chicken) so she could fit through the drainage hole in our block fence. Twice, I found her in the neighbor's yard after she squeezed her way through that hole. So this morning I went around to the front of the house and listened for her peeping. Nothing. I went back to the backyard and did a little walk through to try and find her. Nothing. I sat by the garden and thought for a while. "Where could she have gone?"

That's when I saw it.

Two fluffy wings, bodiless, lying on the ground. More chicken fluff was scattered nearby.

I'm so sad. Bandit was my favorite. She was a Bantam Partridge Silkie, just a ball of fluff really, and sadly, the last picture I took of her was when she was still just a baby.



Goodbye you cute little chickie. You were a sweetie.

Day 24 of Christmas Cookies

It's here. The final day of cookies. It's been such a fun road to travel for my whole family. The kids loved tasting and helping, Mike loved seeing me be all domestic, and I loved it all. I loved every smell that came from my oven, every ingredient I had to go out and buy, and even every dish that I had to wash. It was such a great experience for me.

Now that the last batch has been baked, the cookies have been packed up and we will be delivering them to neighbors later today. It's going to seem weird not having to find a new cookie recipe to make tonight. Or trying to make an early morning posting deadline.

Truth be told, I'm still going to be baking some more cookies today. We are bringing cookies to both of Mike's parents house and all the good ones have been taken. So I have 3 recipes to remake today.

Here is today's recipe. So simple yet so tasty. We pop these babies like potato chips. They're so addictive.


Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional but really delicious)
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add the egg yolks, salt, vanilla and almond extract. Mix until well blended. Add flour and mix until smooth.

Chill dough for about 30 minutes just to firm it up a bit.

Preheat oven to 350.

Prepare your cookie press by fitting it with the desired design plate and filling it with your cookie dough. Follow your manufacturer's instructions for pressing the cookie dough. Space cookies about 1 inch apart. You can sprinkle unbaked cookies with colored sugars or sprinkles. Bake 1 sheet at a time for 9-12 minutes or until edges of cookies are barely brown. Remove from the cookie sheets and let cool on a cooling rack.



Thank you all for following me on my adventure. I wish you a very Merry Christmas. Make it memorable. I'm pretty sure I did.

Day 23 of Christmas Cookies

Woo! 1 more day. I can do this. I've got bags and bags of cookies in my kitchen right now. After we finish baking the 24th recipe, my kids and I will pack them up and bring them to neighbor's houses. Fun fun!


Carrot Cake Cookies

1 pouch Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix (1 lb 1.5 oz)
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup finely grated carrots
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg

Heat oven to 375. In a large bowl stir all ingredients together until a stiff dough forms.

On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart. Bake 9-10 minutes until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

FROSTING

4 oz cream cheese softened
1 tablespoon butter softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar


Mix frosting ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. If it's too thin add some more powdered sugar. Spread frosting over the cooled cookies. Sprinkle with nuts if you like. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Day 22 of Christmas Cookies

We had such a blast yesterday making cookies. The whole house smelled like sugar! It was great.

I love today's cookie because of the colors. You can't go wrong with a pink and brown color combo. The cookie itself is not overly sweet either. I think it would compliment a cup of cocoa or a cappuccino really nicely.


Chocolate-Cherry Pinwheels

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1/4 cup maraschino cherries, finely chopped and drained on paper towels
3 drops red food color
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

In a large bowl beat butter sugar and eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in flour, baking powder and salt until well blended. Place half of the dough in a separate bowl.

Beat almond extract, cherries and food coloring into half the dough. Divide the cherry dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate about 45 minutes or until firm.

Beat vanilla, milk, and cocoa into the other half of dough. Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate about 45 minutes or until firm.

Place 1 portion of chocolate dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll into a 10x7 inch rectangle. Repeat with one part of the cherry dough.. Refrigerate both about 30 minutes more. Peel top sheets of waxed paper from both doughs. Turn cherry dough upside down onto chocolate dough. Remove the waxed paper and roll doughs together starting at the long side to form a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours. Repeat with remaining doughs.

Heat oven to 350. Cut rolls into 1/4 inch pieces with a sharp knife. Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Bake 8-11 minutes or until surface appears dull. Remove from cookie sheet onto a cooling rack.

Day 21 of Christmas Cookies

I'm so excited for today! I have a bunch of my lady-friends (much more like sisters) coming to my house with their kids today. We will be making tons of cookies together while the kids enjoy their time together. We'll have food, music, classic movies, and the togetherness that we all love so much this time of year.

My husband helped me choose today's cookie, but he couldn't taste them. He really wanted to but didn't think he'd be able to. But have no fear! My other resident cookie tasters are always willing and able to do the dirty-work.

When I asked Ash how they were, his eyes rolled back and he said "they're awwwweesooome. I'm in cookie dream land right now" To which Bella replied "I wanna go to cookie dream land."

So, I think they're ok.



Glazed Toffee Bonbons

1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 bars (1.4 oz each) chocolate covered English toffee candy (Heath or Skor) finely chopped

GLAZE
1/4 cup butter
1/2 packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 white chocolate chips

Heat oven to 325. In a large bowl beat 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, vanilla, and the egg with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed beat in flour, baking soda and salt. Reserve 1/3 cup of the chopped candy for garnish. Stir remaining candy into the dough. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 11-14 minutes or until edges start to brown and tops of cookies feel set when tapped. Place cooling racks on wax paper and immediately remove cookies from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Meanwhile in a 1qt saucepan, heat 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 3 tablespoons milk over medium-low heat stirring frequently, until mixture just comes to a boil and the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the powdered sugar and mix with a wire whisk to remove any lumps. Immediately dip tops of the cookie into glaze. Cookies don't need to be cooled, just firm and set. Be careful, the glaze is very hot! Place dipped cookies on the cooling rack and let stand about 10 minutes or until glaze is set. If glaze starts to set in the saucepan, reheat over medium low heat and beat with a whisk until softened.

Place chocolate chips and white chocolate chips in small microwavable bowls. Microwave each on high 1 1/2- 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Use the tip of a spoon to drizzle each flavor over the tops of the cookies. Sprinkle with remaining chopped candy bars. Refrigerate 20 minutes to set quickly.

Day 20 of Christmas Cookies

Well we're closing in on the finish line here. We've officially got all of our Christmas preparations ready. Now to sit back and relax. And make more cookies of course.



Chocolate Mint Thumbprints

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
2 egg yolks
green food coloring
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
3 tablespoons whipping cream
3 tablespoons butter
18 thin rectangular chocolate mints (Andes)cut in half diagonally

Heat oven to 350, Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat 1 cup butter and the powdered sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in peppermint extract, egg yolks and food coloring until blended. On low speed beat in flour, baking powder and salt.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Using the end of the handle of a wooden spoon, press a deep well into the center of each cookie.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Reshape wells with end of handle of wooden spoon again. Cool 2 minutes and then gently remove them to cooling racks. Cool completely.

In a medium microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, whipping cream and the 3 tablespoons of butter on high for 1 minute, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Fill each well with about 1 teaspoon of chocolate mixture and garnish with with the thin mint. Let stand about 1 hour until chocolate is set.

Day 19 of Christmas Cookies

Another family favorite. I don't make these enough. I really like them a lot but whenever I make cookies throughout the year I automatically go to something with chocolate in them. These are light and sweet. They remind me of my favorite cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch. (I know, I'm so grown-up aren't I?)

The original recipe came from The Joy of Cooking but I had to alter it a little bit. There are recipes that only use shortening as the fat and that makes a nice puffy cookie, but I really prefer a cookie made with butter. The original recipe called for all butter but when I made them that way, they spread way too much, becoming almost crepe-like. So then I subbed shortening for half of the butter and got beautifully crisp cookies. Perfect for me but if you like more of a puffy cookie then go ahead and use all shortening.



Snickerdoodles

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs

for rolling:
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease your cookie sheets.

In a bowl sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter, shortening and sugar until light in color and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until well combined. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until blended completely.

Using a cookie scoop, portion out the dough into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet. These spread so make sure they are spaced enough away from each other. Bake 1 sheet at a time for 8-11 minutes or until light golden brown at the edges. Rotate your sheet halfway through the baking time to promote even browning. Remove the sheet from the oven and let stand until cookies firm slightly before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Make sure to let your cookie sheets cool between batches or your cookies may spread too much. I quickly chilled mine in the freezer to make it go faster.

Day 18 of Christmas Cookies

Wanna hear a funny story? Well, maybe not so much funny as embarrassing for me.

Yesterday was a splendidly busy day. I spent the afternoon with Ash's 3rd grade class decorating cookies. It was very messy but lots of fun and I'm so glad I got to go help out. Once home I had to deal with the general housewifery jobs and take the dog for a run. By the time all of that was done, it was time for dinner and then bedtime for the kids. I hadn't even thought about what cookie I was going to make for today (I lost my master list a week ago.

I got the kids to bed and began scouring my books and the internet for something to make. I've had a few requests for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and found a promising looking recipe for peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies. At this point, I was tired, but I started the batch. It went together easy enough but I noticed while rolling the dough how dry it seemed. Weird. I put the first cookie sheet in the oven. Nearing the end of the baking time, I peaked at the cookies. They were still in the ball shape that they started at. I thought, wow these look terrible and chucked the rest of the dough in the trash. No way I could post such a terrible recipe on my blog.

They came out of the oven and I couldn't get them off the sheet without them turning to sand. Absolutely horrible. So I grabbed a recipe I'd been wanting to try and began to gather the ingredients so I would have something decent to post today. As I grabbed the eggs I thought, hmmm I don't remember putting any eggs in that last recipe. Or vanilla. Hmm what else did I forget?

Ha! I forgot a whole section of ingredients. No wonder they were so horrible. I'm lame. So the moral of the story is, don't bake under extreme tiredness. You'll screw everything up and waste a butt-load of ingredients.

Today's cookie is actually a bar, but I'm ok with that. It also starts with a cake mix. Get off my back, it was late. I know they're good though because of Ash. Whenever he eats something really good, he hums in between bites. He was doing a lot of humming this morning.



Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars

1 package yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 1 -2 minutes. It will be thick.

Press half the batter into an ungreased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Then drizzle the top with the entire can of condensed milk. Finally, sprinkle the remaining cake mix on top of it all.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool completely and cut into bars.

Day 17 of Christmas cookies

Today's cookie is another family tradition. I'm sure it's one of most people's traditional Christmas cookies. And there's got to be a reason for it. They are delicious and really fun to make. My husband doesn't care for these. Actually he doesn't like anything that will get stuff on his fingers when he eats them, don't get him started on Cheetos. It's terrible the things I have to put up with. hehehehe. These are messy to make and messy to eat, but that's the fun part of it. My kids love these and could probably eat the whole batch if I let them.



Russian Teacakes

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 chopped nuts (optional, I never use them in mine)
powdered sugar for rolling

Cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Blend in the flour and salt and mix until well combined. Add the nuts if you're using them.

Cover the dough and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake until the cookies are set but not brown about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and roll in powdered sugar while still warm. The powdered sugar is going to melt onto the cookie. Let it stand until cool and then roll once more in the powdered sugar.

Day 16 of Christmas Cookies

Let's throw some more candy bars in the middle of cookies, shall we?

These are very rich and chocolaty. You probably couldn't eat too many of them, but I love the combo of chocolate and caramel.



Rolo Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
about 40-50 rolo candies
1/4 cup white sugar, for rolling

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.

In another bowl combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Slowly add to butter mixture and mix until blended.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Grease or cover you baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350.

Take 1 tablespoon of dough and flatten slightly. Place 1 unwrapped rolo in the center and bring dough up around it, rolling into a ball. Roll cookie into sugar and place on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes or just until cookies start to show cracks. Cool on rack for 10 minutes.

Day 15 of Christmas Cookies

Ring-a-ling-a-ling Ring-a-ling-a-ling

Hello?

Hello, this is heaven calling. We believe you have our cookies.

I KNEW IT!!!


Holy moly, these are amazing. The kids were in bed by the time they were finished so I asked Mike to try one. My husband, he's kind of odd. He gets these sweats. Like, if something is too flavorful his face starts glistening. He knew just from the name of these cookies that he wouldn't be able to handle too much but took a bite for me.

He looked at me through our kitchen pass-through, and said, straight-faced and almost angry about it, "That's amazing."

Then he wandered into the living room and began to giggle, "Those are amazing. Really amazing."

I could see his cheeks begin to get shiny, but he was smiling about it and kept saying how good they were. That they're flavor was "amazing".

This morning while packing for work he asked me to pack 2 for his jumper. "Just two?" I asked "You don't want any?"

"No, no. I don't think I can handle that while at work..." He began to smile again. "Okay pack one up for me too."

Ugh, I love that man.

I got this recipe from a blog I stumbled upon a while ago. I printed the recipe but cannot remember what blog it was. Sorry.



The Snickers Cookie

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 bags Snickers miniatures (the batch made 66 cookies for me, you need one mini snickers for each cookie)

chocolate chips for melting and drizzling over top.


In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla and continue to beat until well combined.

Add in your flour, salt and baking soda. Mix until incorporated. Turn off mixer and give it a good stir with a rubber scraper, making sure to get the sides and bottom evenly mixed.

Cover and chill the dough 2-3 hours or up to a couple days.

Remove dough from the fridge and scoop out in 1 tablespoon portions. My cookie scoop is exactly 1 tablespoon so I used that. Flatten balls of dough and place 1 miniature snicker bar in the center. Carefully cover the candy with the dough, rolling it into a ball. Make sure you cover the entire bar.

Place cookies on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 10-12 minutes. Adjust you time if you are using more than 1 tablespoon of dough. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes then remove to a rack to finish cooling.

Once cool, melt chocolate chips over a double boiler, place in a pastry cone, or plastic baggie with the corner snipped, and drizzle back and forth over the cookie.

Day 14 of Christmas Cookies

It's December 14th. It's my sister, Amanda's, birthday. In our household growing up, today was the day we would go out (all 11 of us) and get our Christmas tree. Then we would stop at McDonald's and get dinner. Once home, we would all dig through the ornament box remarking on which ornament was our favorite, as we waited patiently for either one of the older boys or my Dad to get the lights and cranberry garland strung up on the tree. Then it was our time. Time to hang those ornaments. Each one brought with it a specific memory.

I loved those times.

Sigh.

Today's cookies aren't really anything extremely special besides the fact that they have cream cheese in them. I'm convinced cream cheese could solve the world's problems. Wars could be ended over cream cheese. No one will try though, so my theory remains unproven.

Really though, these cookies are simple. They are an icebox cookie so basically you just freeze the dough in a log for a while, slice and bake. Easy peasy.


Cream Cheese Icebox Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
11 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 ounces cream cheese softened and cut into chunks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

Beat the butter, sugar and egg on medium speed until very fluffy and well blended. Gradually beat in the cream cheese, vanilla and lemon zest until well combined. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended and smooth. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 1 hour.

Place the dough on one end of a large sheet of wax or parchment paper. With well-greased hands, shape into a 12x2 inch log. Roll the dough up in the paper, twisting the ends of the paper to prevent unrolling. Place on a tray or baking sheet and freeze until completely frozen, at least 3 hours. Use immediately or transfer to a sealable plastic bag and freeze for up to 1 month.

To bake preheat oven to 375. Grease cookie sheets. Gently peel the paper off the log and cut crosswise into 1/8 inch thick slices. Transfer slices to the cookie sheets spacing about 2 inches apart. Using stencils or tiny cutters as a design outline, sprinkle the tops with colored sugars.

I tried to use the stencils but the outlines became pretty skewed and you couldn't really tell what it was supposed to be so instead we just sprinkled the tops with the colored sugars..

Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-11 minutes or until the edges are just tinged with brown. Remove sheet to a rack and let stand until the cookies are slightly firm. Transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling.

Day 13 of Christmas Cookies

Wooo! Sorry it's such a late post. My battery for my camera died and I had to wait until after church to go get a new one.

This cookie is Christmas. It just is. I don't think any of us need to argue that point. We all should just accept it and move on.

But, ugh, these smell so good. I could just sit and smell them all day and die a happy girl.

Another recipe to get your kid's artistic juices flowing! I found the cutest little house cookie cutter last year that was destined to be used for this recipe. But we also did the traditional gingerbread boys as well. Mike said all my Gingerbread Men looked like the Aryan Nation Youth. It wasn't on purpose. It just happened. Sorry.


Gingerbread Cut Outs

3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

In a medium bowl, whisk together thoroughly the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Set aside.

Beat on medium speed until well blended the butter, brown sugar and egg. Add the molasses, vanilla and lemon zest and beat until well combined. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients and mix until well blended and smooth. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours. (you can refrigerate the dough for up to 4 days if necessary but make sure you return it to room temperature before rolling)

To bake position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375. Grease your cookie sheets.

Lightly flour your work surface and roll one portion of dough to a scant 1/4 inch. Lift the dough frequently to add more flour underneath to make sure it doesn't stick. Cut out the cookies with cutters of your choice and transfer to the cookie sheets. Roll the dough scraps and continue cutting out cookies until all the dough is used.

If desired you can decorate the cookies with red hots or raisins before baking. Bake 1 sheet at a time until the edges are barely dark, 7-10 minutes. Rotate the sheet halfway through to promote even browning. Remove the sheet to a rack and let sit just until the cookies firm up slightly. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

We used Royal Icing to decorate the cookies with. You can make it with fresh egg whites but just to be on the safe side, I used meringue powder.

Royal Icing

3 tablespoons Meringue powder
1 lb (about 4 cups) powdered sugar
6 tablespoons warm water
2 teaspoons clear vanilla

Place all ingredients in the very clean bowl of an electric mixer and mix on low for stand mixers about 7-10 minutes or until you get some nice stiff peaks. You can thin it out with a little more water if needed. Make sure to keep the bowl covered with a damp towel to keep it from drying out.

Day 12 of Christmas Cookies

Here it is, the halfway point. I can't believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away now.

I actually got to sleep in this morning, which was so unbelievably nice, so this post is a little late.

Okay, these cookies are monsters!! You use either a 1/4 cup or an ice cream scoop of dough per cookie. They're very easy to make though and they're filled with all sorts of good stuff. My son had a friend over yesterday while I was making these and I'm not sure he quite understood my project. He just kept asking, "so, why are you making so many cookies?" and "who are they for?"

All kids tried one of these and really liked them. But then again, don't all kids really like treats that are bigger than their faces?


Dream Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups all purpose four
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips (or peanut butter flavored chips)
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set aside.

In a large bowl beat shortening and butter together with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined scarping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour and cocoa powder. Stir in oats, chocolate pieces, white chocolate pieces, and nuts.

Drop by a 1/4 cup measure (or 2 ounce ice cream scoop) 3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Flatten dough into 3 inch circles. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until just set. Let stand for 1 minute on the cookie sheet. Remove to a cooling rack.

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!

Day 5 of Christmas Cookies

Ohmygosh these cookies are INSANE!!! My house smells like what I'm sure heaven must smell like. This recipe came from a cake decorator friend of mine. She only sells these at Christmas time and her customers go crazy for them. Rightfully so. These cookies are sinfully good. No, seriously. People will do some nutty things to get some of these bad boys.

The recipe makes a ton too! It ended up making 85 cookies for me. So if you like to give cookies for gifts to neighbors, you can knock out a few gifts just with one batch of these cookies. Your neighbors will thank you.



Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (I left these out since my kids don't really like nuts in their cookies)
4 oz bar of semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup toffee bits (I can usually only find these at Christmas time with all the baking stuff. If you can't find any, don't leave it out! Buy some Skor or Heath bars and chop them yourself.)


Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs, beat well.

Place the oats in a blender or food processor. Cover and process until fine, almost like a flour. Combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in chocolates, toffee and nuts. Roll into 1 inch balls or use a cookie scoop and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until very lightly golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Day 4 of Christmas Cookies

When trying recipes the way I am, you are bound to find some not so great ones. And maybe they are great in some ways but don't necessarily float your boat. Today's cookies fit that description. The kids really wanted to like them because they look so fun. They each liked their first bite but at the second one, they decided maybe they didn't care for it after all.

These were really fun to make and I bet kids would have a blast piping all the snowflake shapes out for you. So, there's a positive!

Meringue Snowflakes

2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/3 cups sifted powdered sugar
Decorative candies, edible glitter and/or coarse sugar

Preheat oven to 300. Line 3 (I only needed 2)with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time beating well after each addition. Beat for 7 minutes on high speed. Mixture should be very thick and glossy.

Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip (I used an 18 tip)
Making lines about 1/4 inch thick, pipe 4-5 inch snowflake shapes about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with candies, edible glitter or sugar. Place the cookie sheets in the oven. Turn off the oven. Leave the meringues in the closed oven about 1 hour or until dry and crisp but still white. Let cool on parchment paper. Once cool, gently peel parchment paper away from snowflake.

Enjoy?

Hahahaha.



Get ready for tomorrow's cookies. These one's are great. Seriously. I might even be tempted to have one.