Day 4: 12 Days of Cookies Countdown

It's the final countdown! Can ya hear the music when you say that phrase? I can and it rocks! It makes me get excited about, well, about whatever comes at the end of the countdown. At the end of this countdown is....um, well, Christmas of course!

Day 4 graces us with Cranberry Swirl Cookies. This cookie recipe is a new one for me. I did it because I have had a bag of cranberries in the refrigerator since Thanksgiving. I never used them and I have been waiting for a recipe to use them in. I must confess, this was the first time I have ever cooked fresh cranberries. I really like their tart and slightly sweet flavor.

~Cranberry Swirl Cookies~

(From Baked By Rachel)

**Takes 2 days to make**

1/2 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

1 lg. egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 c. cranberries

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. water, divided

1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. cinnamon

zest from 1 orange

In a small bowl combine the flour, salt, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, beat well to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in 1/2 the dry ingredients, mix well. Add in the other half and mix until fully incorporated. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball, wrap in plastic. Chill for at least one hour.

To make the cranberry filling, place the cranberries, sugar, and 1/4 c. of water in a med. sauce pan over med. high heat. Cook until the berries pop, stirring frequently. Continue to cook, reducing the temp. to med. Add in the orange zest at this point. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and remaining 1/4 c. water. Add cornstarch mix to the cranberries. Heat and stir until thickened, this step happens very quickly so keep an eye on it. Add the cinnamon and stir until incorporated. Remove from heat and transfer the filling to a med. bowl. Let cool for 15-20 min at room temp. Once cooled, cover with plastic and chill completely.

When both the dough and filling have properly cooled and set up, you can construct your cookies. Remove one of the dough balls and the filling from the fridge. On a lightly floured* surface, roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Spread half of the filling over the dough, keeping it with 1/2 in. from the edge. Carefully begin rolling the dough from one end to the other. Pinch and seal off the ends. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then foil. Repeat with the other dough ball and the rest of the filling. Store in the freezer overnight. These can also be frozen for several months.

Once you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Take one log out of the fridge and slice into 1/3 in. slices. Place 1 in. apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-15 min. or until the edges just start turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 min. on the sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. 

Note: I used powdered sugar...keeps things tasty! ;-)

These cookies were okay. The dough was a little tricky to roll out. It kept ripping and pulling apart around the edges as I rolled it. Maybe it needs some more liquid? The cookie as a whole was okay. Not the greatest use of the cranberries in my opinion, but their flavor worked well with the cinnamon flavor in the dough. It might be a texture thing, with the crispness of the cookie part and the softness of the filling. There was something that was missing, or lacking, just not sure what yet!

In other news: I have an announcement! I just found out what one of my Christmas presents is! It's a digital SLR camera!! Ahhhh!! I am SPEECHLESS....my Hubby rocks, I love him so very, very much. Its a Canon Rebel 2Ti, yup pretty basic, but thats where I am at right now...but I have strong hopes for the future!

Happy Holidays!

ENJOY!

Day 5: 12 Days of Cookies Countdown

WooHoo! Day 5! Can ya feel the excitement in the air? I sure can.

I must confess. I have not made every single batch of these cookies on the day that I have posted about them. Sometimes I made 2 or 3 different kinds in one day. Yeah, Im weird like that.... So I made about 3 different kinds on Friday of last week....I should have listened to that little voice in my head saying that enough is enough, you need to take a cooking baking break. I made the pecan balls, prepped another cookies and made the cookies for todays post. I messed these cookies up...not big time, but I remember them being so much better! Maybe it was the fact that I used vegetable oil instead of canola oil. Or I mixed both dark and milk chocolate instead of just the dark chocolate. Maybe it was the recipe itself....but the pictures looked like what I remember. Who knows!? Well, I made them, and they were sub-par. They baked up super flat. They were edible, but they lacked flavor, texture, etc. Just barley squeaked by with this one! But don't get me wrong, next time I make these I am sticking to the recipe! Hehehe...can ya blame me for experimenting and using what I had on had? I guess thats why I don't feel so bad about it....

Day 5 was Chocolate Snowflake Cookies. Here is what mine looked like.

So, here is the recipe that I would like to use in the future.

~Chocolate Espresso Crinkles~

4 tbsp. butter or margarine

1 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. powdered sugar

Put the butter or margarine and chocolate chips in a small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds. Stir and cook in 10 sec. intervals, checking and stirring after each time to see if more time is needed. Take it slow, the chocolate can burn quickly! Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Beat the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until fluffy. Stir in melted chocolate. Add in the flour mixture and beat until combined. 

Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 F. Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Take out the dough from the fridge. Scoop up the dough a tbsp. at a time and roll into a ball and roll in powdered sugar until completely coated. Bake for 8 to 10 min. Remove from oven and let cool a min. on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool.

I hope that these ones turn out better for me and for everyone else! I really like these cookies, and have made them before. I was majorly disappointed when they did not turn out how I remembered them....alas...I guess I will have to make them again! ;-)

ENJOY!!

Day 6: 12 Days of Cookies Countdown

Day 6 is upon us! And with is comes Pecan Turtles.

The recipe for today is not actually a "cookie" by definition but in our family they are always made with all the other Christmas cookies. They are pecan turtles. My mother is known for them. She does not like them, but the extended family does, and a tray of cookies would not be complete without a turtle on it. 

They are very easy. Here is what you do:

~Pecan Turtles~

1 bg. pecan halves

1 pgk. caramel squares

1 6-bar pkg. Hershey chocolate bars

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Line some baking sheets with parchment paper. Dump out the bag of pecan halves and find the ones that are not broken. Unwrap the caramels and count how many are in the bag, thats how many turtles you can make with the pecans. (there seems to be the least of the caramels) Unwrap the chocolate bars and break apart the sections. 

First, arrange the pecans like this:

This is your turtle 'base'. Make as many of these as you have caramels. If your pecans are broken, use broken halves for the head. It gets covered anyway. 

Next, place a caramel on top of the center of the turtle.

Place them carefully, so you don't bump off a caramel, into the oven and warm for about 5 min or so. How long this takes depends on your oven, how warm the caramels are, etc. Just watch them. When the caramels get slight soft around the edges is when you want to pull them out. You dont want them to melting all around the turtle. Have a bowl of cold water ready by your side and the chocolates ready to go right away, the next few steps happen fast. 

Take the trutles out of the oven and dip your fingers in water and squish the caramels down like this:

This makes the back. Do this to all of the turtles.

Immediately place a piece of chocolate on top of the caramel. Wait a few minuets.

Then swirl the chocolate in a circle to cover the caramel.

This makes the shell of the turtle

If you can, place the turtles, still on the baking sheet, into the fridge to harden up. Once hard, remove and  place into a tupperware container. Let come to room temp. before eating, otherwise the caramel is really hard. Then eat!

ENJOY!

Day 7: 12 Days of Cookies Countdown

Another day down and another day closer!

Today, day 7, I am bringing you the wonderful Snowball Cookie. These are the cookie with many variations, and with that comes many names....The most common variation is the "nut" part of the cookie. I used pecans, but I have also seen walnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews, etc. There are also the add-ins of the liquid variety like maple syrup and liquor. Sounds good no?

I did, but i still decided to go the classic route....with Pecans.

I also learned a lesson with this recipe....read it! Even if you think you know what you are doing...read it through thoroughly. I neglected to do so, and I got lucky. The mistake that I made was minor. Let me see if you can notice it...Take a look at the picture below:

The cookie on the left it pre-bake and the one on the right is post-bake. Can you spot my mix-up? Yes, I coated them in powdered sugar before baking! Had a read the recipe I would not have done this. But, again, I got lucky and this did not ruin the cookies, the powdered sugar just "melted" on the cookies a little. So, realizing my mistake after all the cookies were baked, I remedied it by just re-coating them in more powdered sugar. It can't hurt right? It worked, they looked great, like a snowball is supposed to work, and surprisingly they were not too sweet either! Score! So, here is the correct recipe...

~Pecan Snowball Cookies~

(Adapted from Sprinkle Bakes)

2 c. flour, sifted

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 c. chopped pecans

1-3 tbsp. milk

1 c. powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 325 F. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour and salt. Mix until partially incorporated and then add in the nuts. Mix until a thick and uniform dough is formed.*

Roll cookies into 1 in. balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 min. or until the cookies are slightly golden and fragrant. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on the pan before trying to remove from the baking sheet. 

Once the cookies have cooled, place the powdered sugar in a bowl and roll the balls in the powdered sugar until coated. Remove and eat! 

*Note: I had some issues with the dough so I added some milk. It came together a little bit, but it was really difficult to get them to come together. I really had to squeeze! I also rolled them a bit too big. Once bitten into, they also crumbled a lot, I guess that was a side effect of the too-soft dough.

While it was good to try a new recipe, I think I would like to try something different. These were good, don't get me wrong...I just know they can be better! So, the search continues for another snowball recipe. Maybe one with liqueur? ;-)

While baking up these snowballs, I was reminded of recess growing up. At the grade school I went to we had a large parking lot that was part of our recess area. It was plowed during the winter which resulted in massive snow piles around the surrounding fence. These piles were huge! I would say that some were up wards of 6 or 7 feet high. So, hugh snow piles + kids = snow forts! We built the best forts, with tunnels and little caves, everything. And what is a fort without protection? Yes, we even had snowball storage area were there were tons of snowballs just waiting to be used. (which never could be because snowball throwing during recess was not allowed) SO, tons of snowballs were all lined up in our forts and when I had all my snowball cookies all lined up on the baking sheet, I recalled this wonderful childhood memory!

Yeah, Im cool like that! ;-)

What's your best recess memory?

ENJOY!

Day 8: 12 Days of Cookies Countdown

Too funny! He was one of my favs of the night!

Can ya believe it! There are 8 days left until Christmas!

Did you do all your shopping? I hope so!

There were a few things that happened this week that brightened my day:

• I got x-mas gifts from my parents
• I got x-mas gifts from my aunt(s)
• I mailed off all other x-mas gifts to aunts/friends/parents
• I mailed off some x-mas cookies to a friend in Iraq
• I used coupons to save some $$
• I stayed on top of my "getting things done" in a timely manner
• I bought a mini x-mas tree to make our apt living more festive
• I went to the 100 yen store...it rocks!

What a week! It flew by!

Now, onto the meat and potatoes of this blog post, the cookie recipe! I made some Mini Gingerbread Cookies for day 8. About a day before I made these cookies I found some mini holiday themed cookie cutters at the store and snatched them up in hot second! Then I went home and started the search for a good gingerbread recipe. I have made some gingerbread cut out cookies before, but I cannot remember where I found the recipe, so I gave up looking for that particular one, and remembered that I just received the latest Food Network magazine. And, lo and behold, there is a gingerbread gal on the front cover with the recipe on the back! Woah!

So, thats the one I used.

~Perfect Gingerbread~

(Recipe from Food Network Magazine)

3 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. ground ginger

2 tbsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. allspice

6 tbps. butter

1 tbsp. shortening

2/3 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. molasses

1 egg

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice in a bowl. Set aside. In small bowl, melt together the butter and shortening. Pour into a lg. mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar, and molasses and beat until combined. Beat in the egg. Add the flour mixture in two additions, combining well after each addition. Divid the dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. 

On a powdered sugar* surface, roll out each piece of dough to 1/4 in. thick, dusting with more powdered sugar. Cut the dough into desired shapes. Arrange the shapes 1 in. apart on parchment lined baking sheets, and chill for 15 min.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Once preheated, remove cookies from the refrigerator and bake for 10-12 min. or until the cookies are slightly golden around the edges. Transfer to a rack and cool completely. Decorate with Royal Icing.

*Note: I got a tip from my college roommate, who said that their mom used powdered sugar to roll out sugar cookies. Ever since then I have used powdered sugar to dust before rolling. Its wonderful. More sugar can't hurt right?

~Gingerbread Icing~

(From Joy of Baking)

2 c. powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temp.

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tbsp. milk

Place the butter in a lg. mixing bowl, and with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Scrape down the sides. Add the milk and beat on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy.** This should take 3 to 4 min. Add a little more milk if the mixture is too dry or stiff. Place the frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip and decorate cookies. (A ziplock bag with the end snipped off works too!)

**Note: This step is important. This insures a frosting with a good consistency. Time yourself and beat it on high for at least 3 min!

I had a lot of fun decorating these cookies! It was quite the assembly line process on the coffee table. I did this while Hubby played video games. Tehehe... It's pidely work, but I love it and it gets awesome reactions! The cookies tasted really good too, perfect balance of chewy and crisp with a good ginger spice without being too powerful. Even better with the frosting!

Anywho, Im tired...off to eat a cookie, or two...then off to bed for me!

ENJOY!

Day 9: 12 Days of Cookies Countdown

This day 9 I am bringing you a simple recipe. Dark Chocolate m&m Cookies.

So simple, yet oh so good....

~Red & Green Dark Chocolate M&M Cookies~

This was just your basic chocolate chip cookie dough spruced up for the holiday season with red and green m&ms, but not just any m&ms, these were dark chocolate m&ms. I also added a pinch of cinnamon to the batter and this was a wonderful complement to the dark chocolate. If I were to choose a cookie from a platter of tons and tons of choices, this one would be it! (even if it was milk chocolate) I am a fan of the old-school style cookies. I like trying new things and recipe, but I am deep down very simple, very classic. Hey! I know what I like! ;-)

Enjoy the photos, there are more coming soon!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

ENJOY!

Day 10: 12 Days of Cookies Countdown

Day 10 and I am bringing you Molasses Cookies!

A little late, but better than not! I blame it on poor timing, running out of ingredients, and piddily decorating (that brings great results)

**NOW UPDATED!!**
(just one day late)

~Chewy Spicy Molasses Cookies~

(inspired by recipe from Eating Bird Food)

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cloves

2 c. sugar, divided

1/4 c. dark molasses

1 lg. egg

For the dough, melt the butter in a 3qt. heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and cool to tepid. Sift and mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves. Set Aside. Using a wooden spoon stir 1 1/2 c. sugar, molasses, and egg into the butter, mixing until smooth. Add the dry ingredients in two installments, blending well so that all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Leave in pot and cover with wax paper. Place in the refrigerator and chill for 30-45 min. or until firm. (Can also be left over night)

Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Prepare cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Place the remaining 1/2 c. of sugar into a small bowl. Shape the dough into 1 in. balls between the palms of your hands, roll in the sugar until covered, and place on the baking sheet about 2 in. apart. 

Bake for 8-10 min. or until the tops begin to crack, rotating the pan(s) front to back and top to bottom about 2/3 of the way through the baking time. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet about 2 min. Loosen with a spatula and transfer to a cooking rack.

These cookies were really good and really easy! All the prep is done in one pot, what could be easier? They were perfectly chewy, with a little crispness on the outsides. They were just spicy enough with being too overly powerful. Hubby said they were really good! *wink wink*

These cookies are being packed up to be sent overseas! I hope they make the trip and that they are gobbled up quickly. I have sent my fair share of cookies to troops overseas, and I was looking around online the other day and stumbled upon a cool way to ship cookies with having to by more tupperware! What do you use? Empty oat containers! This was perfect, since I had about 3 empty ones laying around (I had more) from making about 6 or so batches of homemade granola for X-Mas gifts (another post) and some protein bars and granola bites for the Hubby & his guys. (Again, another post) It was really easy!

~Cookie Containers~

Wrapping paper

Tape/glue

Oat containers

Scissors

Marker

Basically, take the oat container and "trace" it on the wrapping paper so that you have the measurements of the cylinder length, and its circumference. Its okay if there is excess, you can trim it later. Cut it out. Tape/glue one end of the wrapping paper to the oat container and then wrap it around, pulling tightly and tape/glue down the other side. Trim any excess on the bottom of the container. Trace the circle top on some wrapping paper and cut it out. Trim it to fit in the top (this covers the "oat" label on the top). Tape/glue it in there. There ya go! Your done! 

Now ya gotta bake some cookies and then fill it up! I lined it was parchment paper on the inside and in-between every two layers of cookies, just to keep them from stick and what not. Pack them tightly, then they will not have room to bounce around in the container.

I also slapped on a "Hello My Name Is..." sticker on top to label what was in the container. I really have a soft spot for those HMNI... stickers. I just wish I cold find them in different colors...

I thought they were cute! They could be dressed up with some ribbon or bows two, but since I am shipping them, I skipped this part. Play around, be creative!

ENJOY!!