Looking for fun Halloween cookies to make with your kids this year? Here are a few favorites:
Autumn Spiced Fall Leaf Cookies
Twix Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
Happy Spooking!
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Fifth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies Round-up
Twelve more cookie and treats to help you celebrate this Christmas season.
As you whisk and sift and bake this year, be sure to look up from your bowls of flour and melted chocolate to appreciate the joy and wonder of the Christmas season. As we share and give our love to those around us (whether that is through cookies, gifts or service), may we also remember the gift of love given to each of us on that very first Christmas.
DAY 1: Scottish Shortbread
DAY 2: Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
DAY 3: Raspberry Swirl Blondies
DAY 4: Oreo Truffles
DAY 5: Ninja-bread Men Cookies
DAY 6: Hot Cocoa Mix
DAY 7: Peppermint Swirl Marshmallows
DAY 8: Nutella Marbled Cheesecake Bars
DAY 9: Glazed Cranberry Orange Cookies
DAY 10: Rocky Road Cookies
DAY 11: Christmas Fortune Cookies
DAY 12: Peppermint Bark Snowflakes
For forty-eight more cookie and candy ideas, there are links below for the four previous years’ Christmas Cookies:
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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My best wishes to each of you for a faith filled Christmas season. May God be with you and your family.
Click the photo above or HERE for videos, music, cards and messages reminding us of the true meaning of Christmas, the gift of the Savior of the world, and how we can incorporate that meaning into our lives every day.
Filed under Candy, Cookies, Desserts, Uncategorized
Softball (or Baseball) Cookies
We made it to the end of another girls’ softball season! Last week was our end-of-season party and awards night. Since I had a couple-dozen plain round cookies left from the graduation party Fruit Pizza Cookies (stored in the freezer), I made these softball cookies in our team color (Go Purple Bandits!) for the girls to eat after their pizza.
I used a simple Glacé Icing to frost these (just powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, vanilla or almond extract and gel food coloring) that you mix with a whisk. You could also use a Royal Icing. Click HERE to see soccer ball cookies made with Royal Icing. There are also some more detailed pictures there of piping and flooding sugar cookies.
To make the baseball/softball cookies:
Using thick white piping-thickness icing, pipe a circle around the edge of each cookie. Using thinner flooding-thickness white icing, fill the center of each cookie with white icing. Use a toothpick to move icing around to completely fill center. Use toothpick to pop any bubbles. Let cookies set for about 30 minutes before piping on colored lines (ball seams).
Using thick colored piping-thickness icing (I used purple, but you could use red for a traditional baseball), pipe two arcs at the edges of the cookies. Pipe “v’s” to complete seams. Let icing harden at least 24 hours before stacking cookies.
In humid weather it will take even longer for the icing to harden. After 36 hours, mine were still slightly soft. Royal icing dries harder and faster than glacé icing, but I didn’t have any meringue powder and I like the taste of the glacé icing better, especially with almond extract.
Little J in her Bandits uniform. She was voted Best Hitter by her teammates.
Little J had a great coach this year that really focused on fundamentals, and her game improved a lot. Her favorite thing to do was to slide. Whether the ball was anywhere near her or not. Here she is sliding into third:
She tried this in a game once wearing shorts (“It’s too hot to wear pants, Mom!”). After coming home with a softball-sized scrape on the edge of her bum, I haven’t had to nag anymore about the wisdom of pants.
RECIPE:
Sugar Cookies with Glacé Icing
Sugar Cookies
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
About 7 – 7 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Beat sugar, butter, sour cream and vanilla until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add soda, salt and enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough (start with 7 cups and add additional flour if needed). Chill dough for 20 minutes to 1 hour for easier handling. Roll out dough to desired thickness (I like these fairly thick) and cut with cookie cutter.
Bake at 375°F for 9-11 minutes; if they brown, it’s been too long. They should still look white when done.
Glacé Icing
——–(from Our Best Bites)
1lb powdered sugar (about 4 cups) + additional for thickening piping icing
¼ cup+ 2 Tbs whole milk or cream
¼ cup + 2 Tbs light corn syrup
1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
Gel food coloring
With a whisk, combine sugar, milk or cream, corn syrup and almond or vanilla extract until smooth. NOTE: If you are using cream, you will need 1-2 Tbs more. Using cream does help the icing look whiter. Add food coloring for desired colors.
You will use this same recipe for both glazing and piping. The way it is right now is the consistency you want for glazing. It’s smooth and thin. It easily runs off of a whisk in a thin drizzle.
To prepare the icing for piping, add more powdered sugar until icing is thick enough to hold its shape.
To make the baseball/softball cookies:
Using thick white piping-thickness icing, pipe a circle around the edge of each cookie. Using thinner flooding-thickness white icing, fill the center of each cookie with white icing. Use a toothpick to move icing around to completely fill center. Use toothpick to pop any bubbles. Let cookies set for about 30 minutes before piping colored lines (ball seams).
Using thick colored piping-thickness icing (I used purple because our team was the Purple Bandits, but you could use red for a traditional baseball), pipe two arcs at the edges of the cookies. Pipe “v’s” to complete seams. Let icing harden at least 24 hours before stacking cookies. In humid weather it will take even longer for the icing to harden. After 36 hours, mine were still slightly soft.
NoEmptyChairs.me
Filed under Cookies, Desserts, Uncategorized
Graduation Party: Individual Fruit Pizza Cookies
At a graduation party for Big A and her best friend M we had a dessert bar where guests could make their own mini fruit pizzas using sugar cookies, fruit dips and chopped fruit.
I made plain round sugar cookies (about 4” in diameter) to use as a base for the fruit pizzas.
There were two fruit dips that we used as frosting for the cookies, a Berry Fluff Dip (which I didn’t get a good picture of) and a Creamy Nutella Dip. Using a fruit dip instead of a regular frosting makes for a less-sweet base for the fruit, which I prefer.
The Nutella fruit dip needs to be stored in the refrigerator, but should be served at room temperature. The dip will get very thick in the fridge, almost fudge consistency. Fudge. Nutella fudge. That is something to ponder for next Christmas.
This “fruit dip” also makes a great frosting for sugar cookies or brownies:
To top frosted cookies, there was an array of chopped fruit. We used fresh pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, mango and kiwi.
The graduates and their friends loved it!
Congratulations Class of 2013. We are so proud of you Big A!
RECIPES:
Individual Fruit Pizza Cookies
Sugar Cookies
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
About 7 – 7 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Beat sugar, butter, sour cream and vanilla until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add soda, salt and enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough (start with 7 cups and add additional flour if needed). Chill dough for 20 minutes to 1 hour for easier handling. Roll out dough to desired thickness (I like these fairly thick) and cut with cookie cutter.
Bake at 375°F for 9-11 minutes; if they brown, it’s been too long. They should still look white when done.
Creamy Nutella Fruit Dip
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup Nutella
½ cup heavy cream
Warm cream cheese and Nutella slightly (about 30 seconds in the microwave) and then stir together with the cream until well mixed. Serve at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator.
Berry Fluff Fruit Dip
1 container marshmallow fluff
1 container Cool Whip
1 container strawberry flavored cream cheese, softened
½ cup sweetened raspberry (or strawberry) puree or seedless jam
Mix all ingredients until well blended.
To make individual fruit pizzas:
Cut out sugar cookie dough with a 3-4” round cookie cutter and bake. Prepare dessert bar with sugar cookies, fruit dips and chopped fruit (choose from strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, kiwi, mango, nectarines, peaches, grapes). Guests can assemble their own cookie fruit pizza.
Creamy Nutella Fruit Dip
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup Nutella
½ cup heavy cream
Warm cream cheese and Nutella slightly (about 30 seconds in the microwave) and then stir together with the cream until well mixed. Serve at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator.
Serve as a fruit dip or as a frosting for cookies or brownies.
NoEmptyChairs.me
Berry Fluff Fruit Dip
1 container marshmallow fluff
1 container Cool Whip
1 container strawberry flavored cream cheese, softened
½ cup sweetened raspberry (or strawberry) puree or seedless jam
Mix all ingredients until well blended. Serve as a fruit dip or as a frosting for cookies.
NoEmptyChairs.me
Filed under Cookies, Desserts, Uncategorized
Homemade Fortune Cookies and thoughts on Japanese Gaman
As we approach Chinese New Year which begins on February 10, I want to share a recipe for homemade fortune cookies and also my favorite fortune (from a cookie) ever.
A few years ago I was serving in a responsibility at church that most of the time filled me with love and gratitude, but also involved a heavy time commitment and occasionally left me feeling heart-sick about things that I could not fix.
After one such day, Brian and I went to dinner with some good friends. After the meal, the traditional fortune cookies were served. I received the most timely fortune. It is the only one that I have actually held onto and occasionally reread.
I know this doesn’t sound like an especially cheery sentiment, but it described exactly how I was feeling at the time. It was also a wonderful nostalgic reminder of the time we spent living in Japan. My Japanese is extremely limited, but one of the concepts that fascinated me there was the concept of uncomplaining endurance or perseverance, regardless of circumstance. From a religious perspective, we might call this “enduring to the end.” The Japanese have not just one word for this, but a vocabulary that covers an entire spectrum of levels of endurance and different situations which might require endurance.
The word “ganbatte”, on the low end of the spectrum might be called out to someone who has just one lap to go in a race or is about to take a hard test. It implies both an encouragement to keep going or work hard and also an admonition to do your best. It implies as well an unspoken wish of good luck in your endeavor.
At the other end of the spectrum you have “gaman”, which implies a self-sacrificing patience, endurance, and perseverance through extremely difficult and often prolonged circumstances. It is a charge to endure with grace and dignity. “Work on in despair” is not meant to be a negative concept, but a positive character trait to develop that will bless both you and society at large.
So, as you make these cookies and the edges burn OR you wait too long to fold them and they harden, OR you make 600 of them for a Chinese New Year party and while you are changing your kids break open every single one to read the funny fortunes, all I can say is:
GANBATTE!
Making Fortune Cookies:
Fortune cookies are made from a thin egg white based batter. You will need to line your baking sheets with a silicone liner or parchment paper. Spread batter in 3-4” circles on your baking sheets. I can get 6 on my baking sheet. The cookies will harden quickly after removing them from the oven. Start with just a couple of cookies on your baking sheet until you get the hang of folding them quickly.
The cookies are done when the dough is dry, but not brown. Don’t be discouraged if you ruin a cookie or two trying to get the exact time right (no two ovens are exactly the same).
To fold: While the cookies are still hot from the oven, flip a cookie over and place a fortune in the center of the cookie. Gently fold cookie in half (do not flatten center crease; just make the edges meet). Using a mug or drinking glass, fold the cookie in half again over the edge of the mug. Transfer to a muffin tin to keep cookie from unfolding while it completely cools.
Cookies should be eaten the same day, or stored in an airtight container. They will quickly become soft in a humid climate. Making them in the winter here in dry western PA, they will keep for several days without becoming soft.
You can write your own fortunes, or here are some links for pre-written fortunes:
Traditional Fortunes:
FortuneCookieMessage.com
Fortunecookies.co.nz
KCFortuneCookieFactory.com
BreakTheCookie.com
ChineseFortuneCookie.com
Funny Fortunes:
YourDictionary.com
MentalFloss.com
SayingsPlus.com
For Kids:
DAPatchy.com/Kidscook
Fortunecookies.co.nz
RECIPE:
Homemade Fortune Cookies
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs cornstarch
½ tsp salt
4 egg whites
1/3 cup oil
2 Tbs water
1 ½ tsp orange or almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
Fortunes cut into strips about 3 ½” long by ½” wide
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
Use a whisk to mix flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar in a small bowl.
In a separate bowl, use the whisk to lightly beat the egg whites, oil, water, vanilla, and orange or almond extract until frothy.
Stir the flour into the egg white mixture and mix until you have a smooth batter. The batter will be thin, with the consistency of a sticky pancake batter and not stiff like a normal cookie dough.
Place one tablespoon of batter onto the cookie sheet. Using the back of a spoon, spread batter in a circular motion to make a circle about 3-4 inches in diameter. Place 4-6 cookies on a baking sheet (start with fewer cookies until you get the hang of folding quickly). The batter should be very thin on the baking sheet. If it’s too thick the cookies won’t fold without breaking.
Bake for 11-14 minutes, or until the outer edge of each cookie barely begins to brown.
TO FOLD: Immediately after removing baking sheet from the oven, working very quickly, remove a cookie with a thin metal spatula and flip it over onto a clean plate or mat. Place a fortune in the middle of the cookie (let one end slightly extend beyond edge of cookie, if desired). Fold the cookie in half, but do not flatten center crease; just make the edges meet gently. Fold cookie in half again by gently pulling the edges downward over the rim of a mug or glass. Place the finished cookie in the cup of a muffin tin so that it keeps its shape while it cools. Continue with the rest of the cookies.
Let cookies sit, uncovered, for 1-2 hours (so that they harden completely). Cookies are best eaten the same day, especially if weather is humid. In drier climates, cookies will keep well for several days.
Yield: 36-40 cookies
NoEmptyChairs.me
Filed under Cookies, Desserts, Uncategorized
Halloween Humor
Why did the Mushroom get invited to all the parties?
‘Cuz he’s a fungi!
Filed under Uncategorized
No Empty Chairs 