25 Days of Treats: 16 Gingerbread snowflakes

What you need:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 large egg

3/4 cup molasses

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons powdered egg whites (meringue powder)

1 Tablespoon of water

What we you do:

1.      In your standing mixer add all of the ingredients save the confectioners’ sugar, egg white powder and water. Put the mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; mix just until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks and wrap in plastic cling wrap. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

2.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare ungreased cookie sheets with parchment paper.

3.      Take one disk out of the fridge and roll out until 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. Cut with your favorite cookie cutters. Use flour on your board and rolling pin to prevent sticking.

4.      Place on your prepared baking sheets and freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.

5.      Bake 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven. Decorate as desired.

6.      To make royal icing whip together the powdered sugar, meringue powder and water. Place in a piping bag and decorate until your heart’s content. Feel free to adorn with sprinkles as is completely acceptable and expected.

As always, much love, many blessings, Happy Baking!

25 Days of Cookies: Day 15 Penguin Cupcakes

For my son's school Christmas Party I made kid friendly easy vanilla cupcakes with Christmas Penguin decorations. Penguins were the theme this year... 

To make the cupcake I use a food prep, but a mixer, a bowl and wooden spoon, nearly anything with a mixing capacity will do.

Cupcake

Ingredients

1/2 cup or 1 stick of melted butter
3/4 cup of self rising flour
1/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
slosh of vanilla extract (a teaspoon) please use excellent quality all natural real vanilla extract
big slosh of milk (two tablespoons)

Method

1. Set the oven to 400 degrees, and line a cup cake tin with liners
2. Melt the butter in the microwave
3. Place all of the ingredients save the butter into a mixing vessel
4. Mix, blitz, or whirl
5. Add the butter and mix-in
6. Spoon into lined tins and bake for 20 minutes or until brown and toothpick comes out clean

Vanilla Frosting

1/2 cup of butter softened (very important)
2 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla 

Method

1. In a standing mixer bowl add the sugar, butter, and vanilla
2. Whip silly, until you have a white puffy creamy frosting

Spoon on your frosting into a pastry bag and crown your cupcakes. I then added penguin cupcake toppers that were printed from the computer and attached to a toothpick. I also added some festive sprinkles. 

As always, much love, many blessings, and Merry Christmas! 

25 Days of Cookies: 14 Homemade Marshmallows

Every year for our holiday party we always put out our chocolate fountain. It only comes out once a year so it ought to be good. This year I made homemade marshmallows, and I have to say, it might be one of my favorite things to make. It does require a mixer and a candy thermometer but it is totally worth it. 

Here is what you need:

·         1 cup powdered sugar

·         4 envelopes unflavored gelatin (1 box)

·         1 cup cold water, divided

·         2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)

·         1/2 cup light corn syrup

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1 tablespoon vanilla

·         Powdered sugared for dusting the marshmallows

Here is what you do:

1.    Add parchment paper to a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking pan. Spray non-stick spray too the paper and dust bottom and sides with powdered sugar.

2.    In your standing mixer bowl add the gelatin and ½ cup of cold water. Let sit for about 5 minutes while you make sugar syrup.

3.    Fit your candy thermometer to a large heavy bottomed sauce pan. Add the sugar, corn syrup, ½ cup of water, and salt. Cook over low heat and until 236 degrees F.

4.    Gently and carefully add the hot syrup down the side of your standing mixer bowl and allow mixing with your softened gelatin. Whip in your mixer for 10 minutes or so until the mixture is 5 times the volume and airy white marshmallow.

5.    Add the vanilla or other flavoring and continue to whip.

6.    Pour your mixture into your prepared baking dish and allow to set for atleast 8 hours or up to a day.

7.    Plop out on to a cutting board and with a very sharp knife cut your marshmallows.

8.    Roll all of the marshmallows in powdered sugar store in an air tight container for 2 weeks and enjoy with chocolate fountain, smores, or hot cocoa…

Merry Christmas!

25 Days of Cookies: 13 Candy Cane Ice Cream

I love making my own ice cream, I know it sounds intimidating, but I have found a few tricks to naturally get the creamy texture rather than the mini icicles that usually form with homemade ice cream.
1. Always store is small quantities, that way the ice cream is sealed fresh
2. Use small amounts of toppings to protect the top of the ice cream from freezer burn
3. Whip the cream separately and add just before freezing for the creamy texture

Here is an easy recipe to make great candy cane ice cream

What you need:

• 2 cups of half and half
• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract
• 12 crushed mini candy canes 

What you do: 

1. In heavy bottomed saucepan gently heat the sugar and half and half until the sugar is fully dissolved. 
2. Separate the eggs, reserve the whites for an omelette or pavlova. Whisk together the egg yolks, and add a little warm half and half to temper the egg yolks. You don't want scrambled eggs. 
3. Once the egg yolks are warm to the touch add them to the warm half and half and cook until it thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon. 
4. Let cool the mixture cool. 
5. Whip the cream until you form stiff peaks. 
6. Set up your ice cream machine and add the cooled custard and the whipped cream into the freezer bowl. 
7. Follow your machine instructions to turn it on and make ice cream. It takes mine about 10 minutes. Once your ice cream has the consistency of soft serve scoop it into your containers of choice. I use single serve disposable freezer containers. I like to decorate mine, but anything will do. Tupperware certainly works. 
8. Crush the candy cane pieces and sprinkle on top before sealing your ice cream. 
9. Freeze until solid, usually 2 hours or so. 

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy ice cream making. 

Happy Christmas!!!

25 Days of Cookies: 12 Chocolate Covered Oreo's

My son loves Oreo's or "coookeys" as he calls them, while pointing to the cabinet we keep them in. What to do when something is great... make it even better with chocolate. I've been wanting to make chocolate covered Oreo's for quite a while. I thought they would make a lovely teacher's present. What could be better than snowman ones?

What you need:
8 oz of melting white chocolate
24 or so Oreo's
24 candy corns for the noses
48 Chocolate Chips for eyes
Food dye markers

What you do:
1. Set up your assembly line. You will need a place for the melted chocolate, the decorations, and a wax or parchment lined sheet pan to deposit the Oreo's once dipped.
2. In a double boiler or the microwave melt the white chocolate, stirring vigorously. It is usually more melted then it looks.
3. Dip the Oreo's using two forks lift out of the chocolate and try gently to knock off any excess chocolate.
4. While the chocolate is still melted, decorate with eyes and nose.
5. Once completely cool, draw on the smiles
6. Serve with love and thank you to your children's teachers. For they are saints...

As always, much love, many blessings, and Happy Christmas!!!!

25 Days of Cookies: Day 11 Peanut Butter Reindeer

Again I have fallen prey to the cute-ems... you know. They are just so cute you gotta make em. These are easy, require no talent and actually turn out adorable.


What you need:
24 mini pretzels
12 red M&Ms
24 brown M&Ms
1 cup of peanut butter (not the natural or organic stuff, we need full on Americana in all its processed glory)
1 cup of sugar
1 egg

What you do:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix the peanut butter, egg, and sugar in a bowl.
3. Dollop out teaspoon sized semi circles into your hand. Make little ovals rolling them in your palm and place on to a parchment lined baking sheet. Once on the sheet, flatten them a little with the palm of your hand.
4. Bake for 10 minutes they will be soft
5. While still warm, press two mini pretzels into the top of the cookies as ears. Add the eyes and the little red nose. You have to work quickly so it helps if you do it with a friend.
6. Allow to cool... and enjoy with a nice glass of milk

So... adorable!

Happy Christmas! As always, much love, many blessings and happy baking.

25 Days of Cookies: Day 10 Santa Sugar Cookies

Aren't these adorable. I made them for my son's preschool class, but truth be told, I made these because I loved them so much. You only need a simple circle biscuit cutter. I have included my simple sugar cookie recipe below. But please feel free to use anyone you like.

What you need:

circle cookies
royal icing in white (2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 egg white, whipped fluffly)
royal icing in red
food dye markers, blue, black and red

What you do:

1. Take your cookie and white icing and line about half of the outside ring of the cookie. Then starting in the center make two half moon shapes to connect the outside ring of icing on the bottom half of the cookie. You made the beard. Now fill in using a toothpick to spread the icing. Make the hat rim layer with white icing and a small circle for the end of the hat. Fill with icing and let dry, at least 4 hours.
2. Using your red icing outline the edge of the circle and design the hat. Fill in with red and let dry at least 24 hours.
3. Using your food dye markers make your mouth, eyes in black and your little red nose in red. You can color the tip of your finger and make the little rosy cheeks if you are so inclined.

Voila... super cute simple Santa cookies.

Happy Christmas! Much love, many blessings, and happy baking!


This is my basic recipe for sugar cookies.

Ingredients:

5 cups of flour
5 cups of sugar
2 sticks of butter
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon of baking soda
2 Tablespoons of cream cheese

Method:

1. Mix all of the ingredients in your standing mixer, it is a lot to do by hand.
2. Once mixed together separate into two discs, and wrap in cling plastic wrap and let the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 day, or in the freezer up to a month.
3. When ready, roll out the dough, use flour on a board and rolling pin to get the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Cut with your favorite cookie cutters and place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are just slightly golden. Let cool and ice as desired.