To see my recipe for these wonderful cookies, simply click on their name.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Snowball Cookies
It wouldn't be Christmas at many homes without these nutty snowball cookies. This is an easy recipe that the kids can have fun helping to make snowballs. No snowball fights, though!
To see my recipe for these wonderful cookies, simply click on their name.
To see my recipe for these wonderful cookies, simply click on their name.
Mini Dreidel Cakes
Serve these yummy cake bites to "top" off your Hanukkah dinner. These adorable mini dreidels are fun for kids to help make so get started today!
What You Need:
1 frozen pound cake, cut into 6 thick slices
White Chocolate candy melts
White Chocolate candy kisses
Blue paste food coloring
Yellow sugar sprinkles (if desired)
Blue & White striped straws, cut into 2 in. pieces
What You Do:
For ease of cutting, make sure the pound cake is frozen. Using a serrated knife, trim the "crust" (outside brown layer) from the pound cake slices.
Cut each slice of cake into 4 rectangles - slice vertically in half and then horizontally in half. Holding a rectangle - long sides pointing up and down - stick one piece of a straw into the top of the cake, creating a handle.
Melt candy melts in the microwave according to directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of chocolate.
Holding onto the straw handle, dip each piece of cake into the white chocolate, turning to cover. Lie on plate and immediately stick a candy kiss onto the open end of the cake. Sprinkle Dreidels with yellow sugar, if desired. Once all of the cake pieces have been covered with chocolate and sugar, chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Tint the reserved 1/2 cup of chocolate light blue. Fill a small plastic Baggie with the blue chocolate, creating a decorating bag. Barely snip one corner of the Baggie. Use this to draw the outlined boxes and letters on the Dreidels. (Refer to picture for help)
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before serving.
Can be frozen after decorated.
What You Need:
1 frozen pound cake, cut into 6 thick slices
White Chocolate candy melts
White Chocolate candy kisses
Blue paste food coloring
Yellow sugar sprinkles (if desired)
Blue & White striped straws, cut into 2 in. pieces
What You Do:
For ease of cutting, make sure the pound cake is frozen. Using a serrated knife, trim the "crust" (outside brown layer) from the pound cake slices.
Cut each slice of cake into 4 rectangles - slice vertically in half and then horizontally in half. Holding a rectangle - long sides pointing up and down - stick one piece of a straw into the top of the cake, creating a handle.
Melt candy melts in the microwave according to directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of chocolate.
Holding onto the straw handle, dip each piece of cake into the white chocolate, turning to cover. Lie on plate and immediately stick a candy kiss onto the open end of the cake. Sprinkle Dreidels with yellow sugar, if desired. Once all of the cake pieces have been covered with chocolate and sugar, chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Tint the reserved 1/2 cup of chocolate light blue. Fill a small plastic Baggie with the blue chocolate, creating a decorating bag. Barely snip one corner of the Baggie. Use this to draw the outlined boxes and letters on the Dreidels. (Refer to picture for help)
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before serving.
Can be frozen after decorated.
Peanut Butter & Jelly Mitten Cookies
Are you looking for an easy wintertime project or perhaps something to do with your kids on a snowy day? These mitten cookies are the perfect project for you! The best part is that the kids get to eat their creations. YUM!
Asst. Colors of Paste Food Coloring
Small Candies for Decorating
Colored Sugars and Sprinkles
Mitten Cookie Cutter
Peanut Butter
Favorite Jelly or Jam
Sm. Plastic Baggies
Scissors
Dixie Cups or Small Bowls
What You Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare your favorite Peanut Butter cookie dough recipe or use the one listed below. On a lightly floured surface, roll cookies dough out to 3/8 in. thickness. Make sure to cut out an even numbered amount of cookies so that they can be paired together. When laying cookies on a baking sheet, be sure to flip over every other cookie so that one mitten thumb is facing left and one is facing right, to make pairing easy. Bake as directed. It is important to make sure that these cookies are completely cooled before icing.
Time to Decorate:
Preparation:
An adult should prepare the icing ahead of time for easier handling. To color the Vanilla icing, add a small amount of icing into a bowl -one bowl per each color that you will be using- and stir in a small amount of paste food coloring. Make icing bags by filling a plastic baggie with one of the colored icings and squeezing the icing into one corner of the bag. Carefully snip off the very end of the corner of each bag.
Separate candies into individual bowls or Dixie cups.
Decorating Cookies:
Pair the cookies so that each child has two cookies, forming one mitten. Allow the kids to decorate the top cookie with icing, candy, etc. Set this cookie aside to dry. On the topside of the bottom cookie, spread a thin layer of peanut butter, topping with a thin layer of jelly. Finish by placing their decorated cookie on top of the jelly.
Serve alongside a glass of milk and enjoy!
For best quality and taste, these cookies are meant to be decorated and eaten immediately; not frozen for later use.
Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies
1 C. Butter or Butter-Flavored Crisco
2/3 C. Creamy Peanut Butter
2/3 C. Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/2 C. All-Purpose Flour
1/4 C. Cornstarch
Combine the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl; beat with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat in vanilla. Slowly beat or stir in the flour and cornstarch until mixture starts sticking together. At this point, I use my hands to mix the cookie dough until thoroughly mixed together. Roll out on a lightly floured board to about 3/8-inch thickness, cut with cookie cutters and place on an un-greased baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cookies are set and light brown. Cool on the pan for 5-7 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
What You Need:
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough (use your favorite recipe or one is provided below)
Vanilla and Chocolate IcingAsst. Colors of Paste Food Coloring
Small Candies for Decorating
Colored Sugars and Sprinkles
Mitten Cookie Cutter
Peanut Butter
Favorite Jelly or Jam
Sm. Plastic Baggies
Scissors
Dixie Cups or Small Bowls
What You Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare your favorite Peanut Butter cookie dough recipe or use the one listed below. On a lightly floured surface, roll cookies dough out to 3/8 in. thickness. Make sure to cut out an even numbered amount of cookies so that they can be paired together. When laying cookies on a baking sheet, be sure to flip over every other cookie so that one mitten thumb is facing left and one is facing right, to make pairing easy. Bake as directed. It is important to make sure that these cookies are completely cooled before icing.
Time to Decorate:
Preparation:
An adult should prepare the icing ahead of time for easier handling. To color the Vanilla icing, add a small amount of icing into a bowl -one bowl per each color that you will be using- and stir in a small amount of paste food coloring. Make icing bags by filling a plastic baggie with one of the colored icings and squeezing the icing into one corner of the bag. Carefully snip off the very end of the corner of each bag.
Separate candies into individual bowls or Dixie cups.
Decorating Cookies:
Pair the cookies so that each child has two cookies, forming one mitten. Allow the kids to decorate the top cookie with icing, candy, etc. Set this cookie aside to dry. On the topside of the bottom cookie, spread a thin layer of peanut butter, topping with a thin layer of jelly. Finish by placing their decorated cookie on top of the jelly.
Serve alongside a glass of milk and enjoy!
For best quality and taste, these cookies are meant to be decorated and eaten immediately; not frozen for later use.
Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies
1 C. Butter or Butter-Flavored Crisco
2/3 C. Creamy Peanut Butter
2/3 C. Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/2 C. All-Purpose Flour
1/4 C. Cornstarch
Combine the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl; beat with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat in vanilla. Slowly beat or stir in the flour and cornstarch until mixture starts sticking together. At this point, I use my hands to mix the cookie dough until thoroughly mixed together. Roll out on a lightly floured board to about 3/8-inch thickness, cut with cookie cutters and place on an un-greased baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cookies are set and light brown. Cool on the pan for 5-7 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Letter Meme
I requested a letter from Sharon at View from my treehousefor this meme. She assigned me the letter letter is "A" for Advent. I am supposed to list 10 things I LOVE that begin with the letter assigned.
A for Advent
1 & 2 are, without a doubt, Andy & Alexis (my kids!)
3. Anise -- I LOVE the flavor of this stuff!!
4. airplanes (thankfully my husband still has a job working on them!)
5. autumn
6.apple blossoms
7. My slight Pittsburgh-area accent :)
8.MacIntosh Apple Yankee Candles
9."All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" - one of my favorite Christmas songs since my son sang it in his kindergarten Christmas concert.
10. participating in activities with my kids
Thanks, Sharon! This was fun!
If you would like to participate in this meme, just post a reply here and ask for a letter. I'd love to see what you come up with!
A for Advent
1 & 2 are, without a doubt, Andy & Alexis (my kids!)
3. Anise -- I LOVE the flavor of this stuff!!
4. airplanes (thankfully my husband still has a job working on them!)
5. autumn
6.apple blossoms
7. My slight Pittsburgh-area accent :)
8.MacIntosh Apple Yankee Candles
9."All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" - one of my favorite Christmas songs since my son sang it in his kindergarten Christmas concert.
10. participating in activities with my kids
Thanks, Sharon! This was fun!
If you would like to participate in this meme, just post a reply here and ask for a letter. I'd love to see what you come up with!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Pretzel Wreaths
Add a touch of whimsy to your tree with these adorable and tasty pretzel wreaths. These also make the perfect last minute 'thank you' gift for friends, family or just about anyone. We made these as an early teacher's present during December's celebrations.What You Need
Mini Pretzels - 7 pretzels per wreath
White Chocolate Candy Melts
Mini Candies such as Mini M&Ms, Red Hots, Gum Drops, etc.
Fruit Leather Rolls
Sugar (optional)
Wax Paper
Baking Sheet
What You Do
Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Using 7 pretzels for each wreath, form small circles on the wax paper.
Melt white chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals, until melted. Use the chocolate to "glue" the pretzels together, sides touching. While the chocolate is still wet, garnish with candy decorations. Either let the chocolate air dry or slide the baking sheet into the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes until the chocolate is hard.
We do not recommend refrigerating any of the wreaths that are decorated with candies that have a sugar coating. The sugary coating melts once the candies come back to room temperature.
Roll out the fruit leather, pressing both the front & back of the leather into sugar for a festive look. Cut into thin strips to use for ribbons on the wreath and for the hanger on top of the wreath.
Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Using 7 pretzels for each wreath, form small circles on the wax paper.
Melt white chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals, until melted. Use the chocolate to "glue" the pretzels together, sides touching. While the chocolate is still wet, garnish with candy decorations. Either let the chocolate air dry or slide the baking sheet into the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes until the chocolate is hard.
We do not recommend refrigerating any of the wreaths that are decorated with candies that have a sugar coating. The sugary coating melts once the candies come back to room temperature.
Roll out the fruit leather, pressing both the front & back of the leather into sugar for a festive look. Cut into thin strips to use for ribbons on the wreath and for the hanger on top of the wreath.
Tip: If you are planning on hanging your wreaths on a tree, use clear fishing line to create a hanger for your wreaths. Do not hang the wreath from the fruit leather, as it will break.
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