Category Archives: Desserts

December 5, 2013 · 5:47 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Ninja-bread Men

DAY 5: Ninja-bread Men

A fun twist on regular Gingerbread Men cookies, these Ninjas are a real kid pleaser!

I am including my favorite gingerbread recipe, which is a very mild gingerbread called Swedish Peppar Kakar. Pipe details on with Royal Icing. You can completely frost the cookie first (as the cookie cutter package shows) and then pipe on details, or skip the icing and just pipe the details (as I did).

I bought my NinjaBread Men cookie cutters at Target last year.

RECIPE:

Ninja-bread Men

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
½ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp molasses

Combine dry ingredients; set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Blend in egg and molasses. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Add a little bit more flour (up to ¼ cup), if necessary, to get a dough that is soft, but not sticky.

Chill dough for 1 hour. Roll and cut into shapes.

Bake at 350°F for 8 to 9 minutes. Don’t overbake, or they will become crispy instead of soft. Pipe details on Ninjas with Royal Icing

Royal Icing
——(from Bake at 350)

2 Tbs meringue powder
scant ¼ cup water
½ lb powdered sugar
½ tsp light corn syrup

Combine the meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!)

Mix in the corn syrup. Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form. (You should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold up and jiggle without the peak falling.) Do not overbeat.

To store for later use: cover with plastic wrap touching the icing and refrigerate.

NOTE: This makes “stiff” icing which is perfect for piping details. If you want to flood (totally frost) your cookies first, double the recipe above. Reserve some stiff icing to outline and pipe details. To fill in your cookies, first tint the remaining icing with food coloring. Then add water to your icing a teaspoon at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula, until it is the consistency of syrup. Outline the cookies first with stiff icing, then flood the center with the thinner icing. Wait several hours until icing has completely hardened before piping on additional details over the flooded icing.

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Tagged as christmas, Cookies, gingerbread, gingerbread men, ninja, ninjabread, recipe, Royal Icing, Swedish

December 4, 2013 · 5:48 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Oreo Truffles

DAY 4: Oreo Truffles

Delicious truffles without all of the work. Three ingredients: Oreos (regular, not Doublestuff), cream cheese and dipping chocolate (plus any sprinkles or toppings you want to decorated them with). I know that these are “cheater” truffles, but sometimes that is all I have the energy for.

They are especially good if you use the Peppermint Oreos and top them with crushed candy canes:

For the chocolate haters in your house, try these with Golden Oreos and white chocolate. You don’t have chocolate haters in your house? Count your blessings. But still try the vanilla variety. Just dip them in good old-fashioned dark chocolate.

The insides of these truffles are simply made by mixing crushed Oreos with cream cheese. These are great for kids to help make. Better them with the messy hands than me!

RECIPE:

Oreo Truffles

Servings: 48
Print

36 Oreo cookies (Original, Peppermint or Golden Oreos)
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
About 1 lb dipping chocolate (dark, milk, or white chocolate)
Toppings (additional crushed Oreos, sprinkles, crushed candy canes, drizzled colored chocolate)

Finely crush Oreos (with the filling) in a food processor or by hand. Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs until well blended.

Shape truffle filling into 48 (1-inch) balls. Refrigerate undipped truffle balls for 30-60 minutes for easier dipping (not necessary but helpful).

Melt dipping chocolate. Using a fork, dip truffles in the melted chocolate. Use a second fork to push the truffle onto waxed paper or parchment paper lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with crushed Oreos, candy canes or sprinkles while chocolate coating is still wet. **

Refrigerate until firm.

** NOTE: If you are piping contrasting colors of chocolate onto the truffles, do this AFTER the chocolate coating has hardened.

(Adapted from Kraft)

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Tagged as candy, chocolate, christmas, dipped chocolates, oreos, peppermint, recipe, truffles

December 3, 2013 · 6:14 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Raspberry Blondies

DAY 3: Raspberry Swirl Blondies

Raspberry is a popular flavor around here. These bars start with a simple-to-make cookie base (you don’t even have to soften your butter first), then have raspberry jam swirled into the top.

I used this homemade Low-Sugar Red Raspberry Jam that we made from home-grown raspberries.

I originally tried baking these in one 9×13” pan, but I could not get the center to set without burning the edges. So now I cook them in two 8” square pans to get more even baking. If that is more cookies than you need (is that possible?), halve the recipe and use one square pan.

RECIPE:

Raspberry Swirl Blondies

Servings: 32
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1 cup butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ cup raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 8” square baking pans (or spray with Baking Pam).

Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave. Stir sugar into melted butter until incorporated. Mix in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pans. Spoon the raspberry jam over the batter. Use a knife to swirl the jam through the batter.

Bake at 350°F for 25-28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and then cut into squares.

Makes 32 bars

Note: Heat jam in the microwave until warm for easier swirling.

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December 2, 2013 · 9:05 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

DAY 2: Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Raisins in cookies have never been my favorite, but I really love oatmeal cookies. This recipe adds chocolate, chocolate chips and coconut to the traditional oatmeal cookie to give it a whole new dimension.

Using Dutch process or Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa will make these cookies extra rich and chocolately, but you can use regular cocoa as well.

RECIPE:

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

1 ¼ cups flour
1/3 cup Dutch process (or Hershey’s Special Dark) cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer. Beat in the egg and vanilla. On a low speed, gradually add the mixed dry ingredients. Slowly beat in the oats, coconut and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a baking sheet.

Bake at 350°F for 10-11 minutes.

(Adapted from Little Yellow Kitchen)

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Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Scottish Shortbread

Welcome to the Fifth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies. Twelve days of cookies and treats perfect to share with friends and family or for a delicious holiday table of your own.

DAY 1: Sometimes simplicity makes for the best cookies. There is nothing fancy about this shortbread. Just good, quality ingredients that combine to make a cookie that melts in your mouth. A perfect companion to a cup of homemade hot cocoa.

For a fancier treat, dip half of each cookie in melted dark chocolate.

RECIPE:

Scottish Shortbread

Servings: 4 dozen
Print

2 cups butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
4 ½ cups flour
OPTIONAL: 6 oz dark chocolate (about 1 cup chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Make sure that butter is very soft, but not melted. Cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer for 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla and salt. Gradually add flour, mixing well.

Lightly sprinkle flour on a pastry board or mat. Gently press dough into a rectangle ½” thick (about 10”x 12”). Cut dough into 1” strips lengthwise and then into 2-3” wide rectangles. Prick each cookie with a fork about 4 times.

Use a thin metal spatula to transfer unbaked cookies to an ungreased baking sheet, leaving a small space between cookies. Bake at 325°F for 20-25 minutes. Do not brown. Cool on a wire rack.

OPTIONAL: Melt chocolate and pour into a narrow bowl or cup. Dip half of each cooled cookie in the melted chocolate. Place on parchment paper or wax paper to harden.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

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More cookies to tempt your taste buds:

First Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2009)

Second Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2010)

Third Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2011)

Fourth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2012)

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Tagged as baking, bar cookies, Christmas cookies, Cookies, dessert, recipes, Scottish, shortbread

November 25, 2013 · 8:07 am

How to . . . Blind Bake a Piecrust

“Blind Baking” is a term for baking a pie crust with no filling. This pre-baked crust is used for any pie that is not cooked in the oven with its filling: pies with cream or custard fillings, ice-cream pies, lemon meringue pie, strawberry pie.

When you bake a pie crust without a filling, it tends to have bubbles form in the bottom part of the crust, or the sides sink and fall into the center of the crust. To keep this from happening, you need to bake the crust in two steps: first with something weighing down the bottom of the crust, and then without the weights to finish cooking the crust. Here is a quick How To… on blind baking a perfect crust.

Start with any crust recipe. Here is one that I like for an All Butter Pie Crust. Place in your pie plate and flute the edges. When you flute your edges, press down slightly on the indentations where the crust touches the top edge of the pan to keep it from sliding down the sides as it bakes.

Place a square of foil in the bottom of your crust. I like to use non-stick foil (non-stick side touching the crust) to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the crust. Extend the foil slightly up the sides of the crust, but do not cover the fluting on the edges. Add about 1-2 cups of DRIED beans to your foil bowl. You can also buy pie weights (either loose or on a chain), but beans are a great cheap alternative.

Bake the weighted crust at 400°F for 10 minutes.

Remove the beans and foil and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork.

Place a pie crust shield on the edges of your crust to keep them from overcooking while you bake the crust again. You can buy a pie crust shield or make your own. Here is an easy HOW TO on making one that is just the right size for your pie plate: Make Your Own Pie Crust Shield.

Bake empty crust for an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Be sure to cool crust completely before filling.

Instructions:

How to Blind Bake a Piecrust

Prepare pie crust and place in pie plate. Flute edges, if desired.
Line bottom of pie crust with foil (I like non-stick foil), extending foil slightly up the sides of the crust. Add 1-2 cups dried beans, or use pie weights.
Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.
Remove beans or weights and foil. Prick bottom of crust with a fork. Place a pie crust shield over the edges of the crust and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool completely before filling.

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