Tag Archives: baking

Eleventh Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

DAY 2: Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

A chocolate cookie loaded full of sweet and salty goodness: chocolate chips, pretzels, and pecans. All wrapped around a gooey caramel center.

Recipe adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

RECIPE:

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup coarsely chopped pretzels
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans, optional
1 pkg (11 oz) caramel squares (about 24)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Gradually beat into butter/sugar mixture, until just mixed. Stir in pretzels, chocolate chips, and pecans.

Cut caramel squares in half and set aside.

Using a cookie scoop, place level scoops of dough on baking sheets, about 2” apart. Roll each scoop of dough around a caramel square half. Return to baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes; cookies will still look slightly underdone. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

NoEmptyChairs.me

Light-The-World-Image-26

1 Comment

Filed under Cookies, Desserts

Top Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (Honorable Mentions)

These cookies did not make the Top 12, but were close runners-up. If you are looking for more baking ideas, these are sure to please! Also included are some of our favorite Christmas candies.

Honorable Mentions:


Chocolate Walnut Puddle Cookies

Chocolate Walnut Puddle Cookies

Christmas Fortune Cookies

Christmas Fortune Cookies

Almond Toffee Triangles

Almond Toffee Triangles

Cranberry Orange Buttermilk Cookies

Cranberry Orange Buttermilk Cookies

Peanut Butter Snowflake Cookies

Peanut Butter Snowflake Cookies

Raspberry Crumb Bars

Raspberry Crumb Bars

Christmas M&M Cookies

Christmas M&M Cookies

Rocky Road Cookies

Rocky Road Cookies

Snickerdoodles

2017-12-05 14.58.11

Almond Toffee Sandies

Almond Toffee Sandies

Caramel Pecan Bars

Caramel Pecan Bars

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies

Favorite Christmas Candies:

Homemade Caramels

Homemade Caramels

Chocolate Nutella Fudge

Chocolate Nutella Fudge

Turtle Pretzel Snaps

Turtle Pretzel Snaps

Peppermint Bark

Peppermint Bark Snowflakes

Oreo Truffles

Oreo Truffles

Christmas Caramel Chex Mix

Christmas Caramel Chex Mix

Lots More Christmas Cookies and Treats:

1st Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2009)

2nd Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2010)

3rd Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2011)

4th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2012)

5th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2013)

6th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2014)

7th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2015)

8th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2016)

9th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2017)

Leave a comment

Filed under Cookies, Desserts

Top Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies Recap

After an extensive process of nominations and voting, these are the cookies that our family voted as their favorites. It is not an exhaustive list, and the voting may have been skewed by the child who hates anything chocolate. Tomorrow I will share a few Honorable Mentions and some favorite Christmas candies.

Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!

DAY 1: Christmas Cherry Pecan Cookies

Christmas Cherry Pecan Cookies

DAY 2: Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookies

Lofthouse Cookies 3

DAY 3: Swedish Peppar KaKar (soft, mild gingerbread)

ninjabread-men-3

DAY 4: Russian Teacakes

Russian Tea Cakes 2

DAY 5: Sugar Cookies

Snow Capped Christmas TreesStained Glass Sugar CookiesSugar Cookies 2Sharp Edges Sugar Cookies

DAY 6: Chewy Molasses Cookies

Chewy Molasses Crinkles

DAY 7: Andes & Rolo Cookies

Andes and Rolo Cookies

DAY 8: Scottish Shortbread

Scottish Shortbread (12)

DAY 9: Old-Fashioned Coconut Macaroons

2018-10-16 11.25.09

DAY 10: Chocolate Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies

2018-10-11 09.57.20

DAY 11: Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies

Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies (7)

DAY 12: Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints 1

 

 

3 Comments

Filed under Cookies, Desserts

Vanilla Scones

Vanilla Scones 1

For our Scottish themed book group meeting, I made a variety of different Scottish foods, more of which I will share here shortly.

Scottish (or English) scones are a light, tender biscuit that can be adapted to many different flavors. Scones can be a savory food or a dessert. Or breakfast, or a snack, or just about anything you want them to be.

These vanilla scones, while not sweet themselves, are more of a dessert food. Especially if you serve them with Clotted Cream (or whipped cream) and jam. They also make a great base for Strawberry Shortcake.

I served them with a Homemade Clotted Cream (made in an Instant Pot) and Homemade Red Raspberry Jam and Cinnamon Pear Jam.

Vanilla Scones 3

Scones can also easily be frozen either before or after baking.

To freeze before baking: Prepare scone dough. Cut out scones and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. DO NOT brush with egg wash. Freeze until firm. Place into Ziploc bag or freezer container and store in freezer. Place frozen scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Brush tops of scones with egg wash. Bake at 400°F for 16-18 minutes.

To freeze after baking: Prepare and bake scones. Cool completely and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Freeze until firm. Place into Ziploc bag or freezer container and store in freezer. Place frozen scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Bake at 300°F for 10-12 minutes.

RECIPE:

Vanilla Scones

Vanilla Scones 1

2 cups flour
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
6 Tbs unsalted butter
½ cup buttermilk
2 Tbs heavy cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (optional)
Egg Wash: 1 egg + 1 Tbs cream

Clotted Cream and Jams, to serve

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut cold butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. **SEE NOTE BELOW

In a separate bowl or Pyrex measuring cup, mix together buttermilk, 2 Tbs cream, egg, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds. In a small bowl, mix together egg wash and set aside.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in buttermilk mixture. Use a rubber spoon to gently mix, until most of the dry ingredients are mixed in.

Turn dough out onto a flour coated surface and pat and/or roll dough to about 3/4” thick. Use a scone or biscuit cutter to cut into rounds. Place on prepared baking sheet. Gently reroll scraps to make additional scones.

Brush tops of scones with egg wash. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve scones with clotted cream and jam.

**NOTE: To easily cut butter into dry mixture, freeze one stick of butter for 30 minutes. Fold back the paper wrapper to the 6Tbs mark and use the coarse blades of a cheese grater to grate the butter directly into the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to fold butter shreds into mixture.

Yield: about 12 scones

**TO FREEZE SCONES:

Scones can be frozen either before or after baking.

To freeze before baking: Prepare scone dough. Cut out scones and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. DO NOT brush with egg wash. Freeze until firm. Place into Ziploc bag or freezer container and store in freezer. Place frozen scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Brush tops of scones with egg wash. Bake at 400°F for 16-18 minutes.

To freeze after baking: Prepare and bake scones. Cool completely and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Freeze until firm. Place into Ziploc bag or freezer container and store in freezer. Place frozen scones on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Bake at 300°F for 10-12 minutes.

NoEmptyChairs.me

Leave a comment

Filed under Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts

9th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies Recap

Here is a list of the twelve cookies from this year. I hope that you all enjoy the rest of this Christmas season with family and friends.

Scroll to the bottom for links to the previous 8 years of cookies.

Almond-Toffee-Sandies-3_thumb1

DAY 1: Almond Toffee Sandies

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies_thumb[2]

DAY 2: Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown-Sugar-Cinnamon-Squares-1_thumb

DAY 3: Brown Sugar Cinnamon Squares

Roasted Spiced Pecans_thumb[1]

DAY 4: Roasted Spiced Pecans

Chocolate Thumbprints_thumb[2]

DAY 5: Chocolate Thumbprints with Homemade Caramel Filling

Chewy-Pecan-Cheesecake-Cookies_thumb[3]

DAY 6: Chewy Pecan Cheesecake Cookies

Almond-Butter-Cookies-1_thumb2

DAY 7: Glazed Almond Butter Cookies

German-Lebkuchen_thumb2

DAY 8: German Lebkuchen

Lemon-Cake-Mix-Cookies_thumb2

DAY 9: Lemon Cake Mix Cookies

Salted Caramel Bars_thumb[2]

DAY 10: Salted Caramel Bars

Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies 2_thumb[3]

DAY 11: Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread 2

DAY 12: Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Lots More Christmas Cookies and Treats:

1st Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2009)

2nd Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2010)

3rd Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2011)

4th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2012)

5th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2013)

6th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2014)

7th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2015)

8th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2016)

3 Comments

Filed under Cookies, Desserts

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (and other stuff): Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread 2

DAY 12 : Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

A delicious quick bread that makes great gifts for friends and neighbors. It is also great spread with a little cream cheese before eating.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Pans 1

Dollar stores and Michaels often sell cute Christmas mini-loaf pans that you can bake these in. Then you can give the cute little pan to neighbors along with the bread.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Pan

RECIPE:

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Yield: 2 regular loaves or 5-6 mini-loaves

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread 2

4 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 can (16oz) pumpkin puree
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two regular loaf pans (or 6-8 mini loaf pans), or spray with Baking Pam.

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, and pumpkin until well mixed.

Whisk together flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.  Stir into pumpkin mixture. Fold in chopped cranberries and walnuts.

Spoon batter into prepared pans. Fill mini loaf pans about 2/3 full.

For regular loaf pans: bake for 60 minutes
For mini-loaf pans: bake for 35-45 minutes

Bake until top of loaf springs back when touched gently (or toothpick comes out clean). Check bread after about 30 minutes: cover loosely with foil if it is beginning to brown too quickly.

NoEmptyChairs.me

Leave a comment

Filed under Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts