I've Been a Little Busy Again...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Well, it has....once again...been a while since I have posted. But I do have a legit excuse! I have a JOB!! and not one job, but TWO jobs!! My first one is a Photography Assistant, both film and digital (new printer whoot whoot!) and Gallery Installation Assistant. I love it and have been consequently very busy. :-( Sad for all of my readers (I know there are few). Sad for me....

BUT!!....I did some Halloween Baking! I made some cinnamon cut-out cookies and made Halloween ghosts, black cats, and pumpkins! It was so much fun! I love decorating cookies! I really liked this recipe and I doubled it and got about 5 dozen plus cookies! I also used a simple powderd sugar frosting that was wonderful. I spread some with a knife and piped others. I have a problem with making frostings that have a tendancy to seperate when they get really warm. But they sure do taste good! Not too sweet which is perfect.

~Cinnamon Cut-Out Cookies~

2 c. butter

1 1/3 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

5 c. AP flour

1 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. cinnamon

Pinch baking soda

Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt, and cinnamon. Add to the butter mixtre. Wrap dough in plastic wrap or parchment paper and tinfoil and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Preheat oven to 350. Divide dough into managable portions. Place one portion of dough between a layer of parchment paper and roll out to about 1/4 in. thickness. Cut out desired shapes, placing on a baking sheet. Reroll scraps. Bake cookies for 10-12 min., until slightly colored on the edges or cookies are firm.

~Powdered Sugar Frosting~

4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 c. shortening

5 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Food Gel Coloring

Using an electric mixer, combine powdered sugar and shortening. Mixtre will look crumbly. Add milk and vanilla and mix until smooth and stiff, about 5 min. Color with food gel and decorate cookies.

These cookies were wonderful and they went very fast! The cookie base is very flavorful and the cinnamon really comes through. Not very similar to a sugar cookie. Mine baked up due to the addition of the baking soda. They were crunchy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside with a very subtle sweetness. Yummy!!

Next up was some Good Luck googies to the Blazer hockey team! I made a boxed brownie mix and added a splash of vanilla and a good heaping of cinnamon to the mix and sprinkled powdered sugar on the outside when they were cool.

I also make a boxed mix for cupcakes and added in some M&Ms. They managed to sink to the bottom of the cupcakes, but they still tased amazing! Very moist. Next time I think I will try chocolate chips and coat them in flour before baking! I used a cream cheese frosting and tinted some red and piped on the letters. They were a hit with the team at the pre-game night spaghetti dinner! Along with the brownies!!

Interior shot of the cupcakes