Tag Archives: dessert

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Candy Cane Snowball Cookies

Candy Cane Snowball Cookies

DAY 11: Candy Cane Snowball Cookies

These cute cookies come from Inside Bru Crew Life.

The cookies themselves are not at all sweet, but with the addition of the melted white chocolate and crushed candy canes, you end up with just the right amount of sweetness.

Great cookies for peppermint fans.

RECIPE:

Candy Cane Snowball Cookies

Candy Cane Snowball Cookies

½ cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar (don’t pack tightly)
1 egg
½ tsp peppermint extract
½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
2 ¼ cups flour
4 oz white candy melts
8 whole candy canes, crushed

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease baking sheets, or use silicone mats.

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in egg and peppermint and vanilla extracts. On low speed, beat in flour and salt.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and bake on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Move cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Place white candy melts in a small microwave safe bowl. Cook on high for 30 seconds; stir. Add 20-30 seconds if not completely melted. Dip the tops of the cookies into the melted chocolate and then roll in crushed candy canes. Place on waxed paper to harden.

Makes about 3 dozen.

(Adapted from Inside Bru Crew Life)

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Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Easy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars 2

DAY 4: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

These should be called “Super-Easy-One-Bowl-No-Mixer-I-Forgot-To-Make-Cookies-For-The-Bake-Sale-Tomorrow-Don’t-Even-Have-To-Soften-The-Butter-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie-Bars”

They are that easy.

These cookies will stay nice and chewy (without burnt edges and soggy middle) if you bake them in two 8×8” pans instead of one 9×13” pan.

Since we have one non-chocolate eater, I usually prepare the batter without the chocolate chips, put half of the batter in one pan and sprinkle the top with cinnamon/sugar. Then stir some chocolate chips into the remaining batter and put the chocolate chip version in the other pan.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars 1

RECIPE:

Easy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars 2

1 cup butter
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

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 and brown sugar into melted butter until incorporated. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the  flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pans.

Bake at 350°F for 28-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and then cut into squares.

Makes 32 bars

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7th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Pecan Sandies

Pecan Sandies

DAY 1: December is here, so it’s time for another Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! Twelve days of ideas for your Christmas Cookie Plates.

Pecan Sandies are a traditional crispy/crumbly shortbread type cookie. I am usually a soft cookie kind of girl, but I really like these not-too-sweet, melt in your mouth cookies.

RECIPE:

Pecan Sandies

Pecan Sandies

½ cup butter
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp salt
½tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp baking soda
scant 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped pecans
Whole pecans (about 72)

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, oil, and sugars. Beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour, salt, cream of tartar, baking soda and nutmeg and mix just until combined. Stir in chopped pecans. Chill dough for 1 hour.

Use a SMALL cookie scoop to make rounded balls (about 2 tsp dough). Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Press 1 whole pecan into the top of each dough ball. Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Makes about 5 dozen small cookies

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For lots more cookie and candy ideas, there are links below for the six 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)

Fifth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2013)

Sixth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2014)

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Banana Cream Pie with Salted Caramel Sauce

Banana Cream Pie with Salted Caramel Sauce

We went to a church fall festival activity tonight, and I brought this banana cream pie as well as this Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie: RECIPE HERE.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie 2

I was not planning on posting the banana cream pie recipe yet, since I only got a couple of not-so-great photos of the whole pie before we left. And there were no left-overs to take a picture of after getting home. But I have had a few requests for the recipe, so I am going to go ahead and post the recipe without the “inside” pictures. So you will just have to imagine layers of flaky crust, salted caramel, bananas, homemade custard filling and whipped cream.

Salted Caramel Sauce 1

And once you have gone to the trouble of making salted caramel, it goes well with just about everything else you might want to drizzle it on.

Salted Caramel Sauce 2

This recipe was inspired by the many Salted Caramel Banana Cream Pies eaten on “Pi Day” at the Kings’ house in Pittsburgh. Not having Tony’s pies to look forward to every year now, I had to buckle down and make one for myself.

RECIPE:

Banana Cream Pie with Salted Caramel Sauce

Banana Cream Pie with Salted Caramel Sauce

1 Baked Pie Crust
Vanilla Custard (recipe below)
Salted Caramel (recipe below)
3 Bananas
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbs powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbs cream cheese, softened

Bake and cool pie crust. Spread 3-4 tablespoons of salted caramel sauce over the bottom of the cooled pie crust. Slice 1 ½ bananas and place in single layer over the caramel sauce. Spoon half of the slightly cooled vanilla custard over the bananas. Slice remaining bananas (slice them thinly) and place over custard. Top with remaining custard filling. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1-2 hours.

Combine cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add cream cheese and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread over chilled pie. Drizzle with additional salted caramel sauce and chill until serving time.

Serve pie with additional Salted Caramel Sauce.

Vanilla Custard
1 cup sugar
4 Tbs cornstarch
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz cream cheese, softened

Combine sugar, cornstarch, milk, cream and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Whisk until well mixed. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Add cream cheese to hot custard about 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir with a whisk until cream cheese is completely melted and custard is smooth. Cool for 15-20 minutes before pouring into pie crust (stir occasionally so that it doesn’t form a skin).

Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
6 Tbs butter, softened and cut into tablespoon-sized chunks
½ cup heavy cream
½ – 1 tsp tsp flaky or coarse sea salt
1 tsp vanilla

Place sugar in a medium to large saucepan (mixture will bubble up and expand as cool ingredients are added to the hot pan). Cook over medium heat until sugar just begins to melt. Stir gently, trying to keep sugar crystals off of the sides of the pan. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar melts completely and is a medium amber color (about 350°F if you use an instant-read thermometer). Reduce heat to low and quickly whisk in butter chunks, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in cream, whisking constantly. Stir in salt and vanilla. Pour immediately into a glass jar or heat-safe bowl to cool. Do NOT scrape sides or bottom of the pan with a spatula. If you do, you are likely to get sugar crystals into your nice smooth caramel. If the caramel has formed crystals while cooking, you can pour it from the pan through a fine sieve into the jar to remove any crystals before cooling.

Caramel can be kept in a covered jar at room temperature for several weeks.

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Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Filled Almond Lace Cookies

Filled Almond Lace Cookies

DAY 12: Filled Almond Lace Cookies

Almond Lace Cookies are a thin delicate cookie similar to a Florentine. You can eat them plain or drizzled with chocolate. Or dress them up by wrapping the hot cookies around a tube and then filling them when hardened. I filled them with vanilla custard and fresh raspberries, but you could also use sweetened whipped cream, chocolate mousse, or ice cream (soften before filling, then refreeze before serving).

Almond Lace Cookies 1

RECIPE:

Filled Almond Lace Cookies

Filled Almond Lace Cookies

Almond Lace Cookies (recipe below)
Filling (any combination of the following):

  • Vanilla Custard (recipe below)
  • Fresh raspberries, blueberries, or sliced strawberries
  • Whipped cream, sweetened
  • Chocolate (or other flavor) mousse
  • Softened ice cream

Melted chocolate

Prepare Almond Lace Cookie batter. Bake cookies (**SEE NOTE). Cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Wrap hot cookies around a cylindrical tube, about 1” in diameter. (I used an empty vanilla bean jar. A cannoli form would be perfect.) Let cookie harden before removing.

**NOTE: Only bake as many cookies at a time as you have forms to wrap them around.

Place chilled custard, whipped cream, mousse, or softened ice cream in a Ziploc bag or pastry bag. Cut off one corner and pipe filling into cooled cookie shells. (If you are filling cookies with softened ice cream, place filled cookies on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper and place in freezer until solid.) Drizzle filled cookies with melted chocolate. Serve immediately.

Almond Lace Cookies
——–(recipe from Brown Eyed Baker)

⅔ cup unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
¼ cup light or dark corn syrup
1 Tbs heavy cream
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups rolled oats
2 Tbs flour
½ cup toasted, finely chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.

Bring the butter to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Reduce the heat so the butter slows to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the solids on the bottom of the pan turn light brown. Remove from heat.

Whisk in the brown sugar, corn syrup, cream, salt and vanilla to the butter and stir to blend well. Stir in the oats and flour, then fold in the almonds.

Drop teaspoons of the batter onto the baking sheets, spaced about 3 inches apart. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown all over and slightly darker at the edges. Transfer the baking sheets to a cooling rack and let sit until the cookies firm up, about 5 minutes. Using a spatula, gently transfer the cookies to wire racks until cool. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Vanilla Custard

¾ cup sugar
3 Tbs cornstarch
1 vanilla bean, optional
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 Tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla extract (if not using vanilla bean)

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and vanilla bean (Split bean in half and scrape seeds into the saucepan. Place bean pod in the saucepan as well). Stir in milk and cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat. While boiling, cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir 1 cup of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Return egg yolk mixture to the saucepan, stirring well. Return custard to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 2 additional minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla extract (if using) and remove vanilla bean pod. Pour into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard (to keep from developing a skin). Chill until cool. Do not stir while custard is cooling.

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Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

DAY 5: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nothing fancy. just old-fashioned cookie goodness. These are traditional chewy oatmeal cookies. Add raisins or chocolate chips as you like.

RECIPE:

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs milk or cream
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 Tbs baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 cups rolled oats
1 ½ – 2 cups chocolate chips or raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

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

Beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add milk, vanilla and eggs; mix well. Add flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix. Mix in oats, chocolate chips (or raisins) and walnuts.

Drop  by tablespoonsful onto baking sheets. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until barely brown around edges. Cookies will still look slightly undercooked in the middle. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 5-6 dozen cookies

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