Celebrate New Year's Morning with Eggnog Waffles Topped w/ Spiced Whipped Cream

If you're like me, you always have a lot of eggnog in the frig after all of the holiday partying is over. Don't let it go to waste! Treat yourself to these delicious eggnog waffles. These waffles were such a nice treat for our breakfast this morning. They would be perfect for an easy breakfast or brunch on New Year's day.

Even if you've promised to lose weight starting now....do yourself a favor...start tomorrow - and don't skip the spiced whipped cream and powdered sugar! It's to die for!!

Eggnog Waffles with Spiced Whipped Cream

A couple of reminders before starting the recipe:

1. Preheat your waffle maker.

2. Set a bowl, along with your mixer's whisk attachment, in the freezer to chill before beating the whipped cream. 

Waffle ingredients

2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
2 c. eggnog
4 tbsp. oil

Sift all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and set aside.

Into a second bowl, mix eggs, eggnog and oil until well blended. 

Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Follow your waffle maker's instructions for making waffles. You will end up with a beautiful stack of waffles.

With my basic waffle maker, I was able to make 12 waffles from this recipe.

Lightly sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the waffles and top with spiced whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Spiced Whipped Cream

Remove the bowl and whisk from the freezer.

Pour 1 c. of heavy cream into the chilled bowl. Add 1-2 tsp cinnamon, 1-2 tsp nutmeg and 2 tsp powdered sugar. Whip on high until soft peaks form in the cream. I dare you to not stick your finger into the bowl over and over again!

** I recommend starting with 1 tsp. of each spice and then do a taste test to see if you like it. I tend to like a heavier spice taste than some people. If it needs more spices, add them and continue whipping until blended.**

Leftover waffles can be frozen by placing them on a baking sheet in a single layer, then placing the baking sheet into the freezer until the waffles are frozen. The frozen waffles can be stored in freezer bags or freezer-safe containers.

As for the leftover whipped cream......grab a spoon and dig in!!  I promise not to tell!

Happy New Year to everyone in Blog Land!

Rustic Apple Pie

Sit down with a warm slice of apple pie and enjoy your favorite holiday shows. This is a super easy dessert that looks like you spent a lot of time making it. All of the imperfections make it look even better.

Rustic Apple Pie

1 recipe for brown sugar apples* - recipe link below
1 refrigerated pie crust
extra brown sugar for sprinkling over the top

I used my recipe for brown sugar apples, adding 1 c. of raisins to the apples while they are cooking.

Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Stretch the pie crust out on the sheet - doesn't have to be a perfect circle.

Pour the cooked apples into the center of the crust, leaving 3-4 inches of dough all around the outer edge.

Pull the pie crust to the center of the pie, overlapping the crust as you fold it around forming a circle.

Lightly sprinkle 2 TBSP of brown sugar over the top of apples.

Bake at 350* until the pie crust is light brown - you do not need to cook any longer because the apples have
already been cooked.

Use a large spatula to loosen the pie from the pan. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer the pie to a cutting board or a large plate. Serve warm.

November Cookie Carnival Round Up

Welcome to the Round Up for November! 

I was surprised to see that everyone chose to bake the Betty Crocker Sassy Cinnamon Cookies.

Like me, others had trouble actually finding cinnamon chips. There were none to be found around my area. For those of you who have them in your stores, they are priceless little chips. hahaha!!

Here's what our bakers had to say this month: 

Vivian from Let's Try These had some camera problems this month. About the cookies she said "Made the cinnamon cookies but was unable to find the cinnamon chips any where. I ended up using toffee bits as a substitute and while it was a good cookie, it reminded me of snickerdoodles."

Katrina from Baking and Boys said "These cookies are snickerdoodles on steroids. They are a thick cookie with that familiar snickerdoodle taste with pecans and cinnamon chips added for extra flavor and crunch."

Kerri from Kerri's Texas Kitchen said "I loved the sassy cinnamon cookies and so did everyone that I shared them with!"

Cristine from Cooking with Cristine said "I haven't seen the cinnamon chips in stock here in El Paso but had a nice stash in the freezer from Arizona." - Lucky you! I searched everywhere around me here in NC and couldn't find them. I had no problems finding them when I lived in Pa.

Krista from Meet the Swans said "I subbed butterscotch chips for the cinnamon chips and walnuts for the pecans in my cookies".

Tessa from The Cookin' Chemist said "I made these cookies to take to work to share."
http://cookinchemist.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-cookie-carnival-sassy-cinnamon.html

Shonda from The Knowlton Nest said "This cookie reminded me of a Snickerdoodle with chocolate chips and nuts inside."

Here is Chaya's Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies from Oct's roundup

Chaya from My Sweet and Savory said " This is one of the cookies that I sent to the soldiers"  - What a wonderful thing for you to do, Chaya!!

Thank you for another wonderful round up, ladies!

So that all of us can spend more time with our families during the holidays, we won't have a Cookie Carnival during December. Never fear, though! We will ring in the New Year with cookies!!

Happy Holidays and Happy Baking!!
Tami 

Edible Pilgrim Hats

These adorable (and edible!) Pilgrim hat favors will decorate any pretty holiday table. Turn them over to use as a treat cup and fill with your favorite treats.

colored ice cream cones
red fruit leather
yellow fruit leather
yellow sugar sprinkles
Karo syrup
chocolate wafer melts
1- small-sized, unused paintbrush
1- medium-sized, unused paintbrush 

Plain Pilgrim Hat
Wrap red fruit leather around the middle of the ice cream cone, right under the lip of the cone. Wrap one end of the fruit leather over the other, pressing the ends to make them stick together.

Cut a piece of the yellow fruit leather the same width as the red fruit leather, then lengthwise into a small square. Place the yellow square on top of the red band, forming the "buckle" on the hat. Using the small paintbrush, paint a little bit of Karo syrup onto the yellow square and sprinkle with the yellow sugar.

Chocolate Covered Pilgrim Hat
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the candy melts at 30-second intervals, stirring frequently, until melted. Using the medium-sized paintbrush, paint the chocolate over the entire cone, making sure to completely cover the whole cone. Set cones in refrigerator for 5 minutes to harden chocolate.

Once the chocolate has hardened, wrap red fruit leather around the middle of the ice cream cone, right under the lip of the cone. Wrap one end of the fruit leather over the other, pressing the ends to make them stick together.

Cut a piece of the yellow fruit leather the same width as the red fruit leather, then lengthwise into a small square. Place the yellow square on top of the red band, forming the "buckle" on the hat. Using the small paintbrush, paint a little bit of Karo syrup onto the yellow square and sprinkle with the yellow sugar.

For Treat Cups: Fill with your favorite snacks like caramel corn, Trix cereal, trail mix, popcorn, etc. You can even fill them with pudding or yogurt. Just don't forget the spoon.

Hand Print Turkey Cookies

Kids will get a kick out of watching their hand prints turn into turkeys. This fun group activity allows kids to not only make their own creations, but eat them too!

1 roll of refrigerated sugar cookie mix or your favorite sugar cookie recipe
red, yellow and green paste food coloring 

3 pairs of disposable gloves
 
chocolate chips
 
red fruit leather
 
candy corn

Divide the cookie dough into 4 equal pieces, leaving one piece white and coloring other 3 pieces: 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 green with the paste food coloring. Make sure to wear a clean pair of gloves when mixing each color so that you avoid coloring your hands!

**Hint: Color each piece slightly darker than you want the end result to be. It will lighten a bit during the baking process.


Gently press each piece of the dough together, forming a large ball. Place dough into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to a 1/2 inch thickness. Gently press hand into dough to make a clear imprint.

Cut around outer edge of hand print with a knife. Repeat with remaining dough. Lift cookies carefully with a spatula and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Separate the fingers to resemble feathers, leaving the thumb standing upright for the head.

Bake until lightly browned. Immediately after removing from oven, press one piece of candy corn into each of the 4 fingers, leaving thumb plain. Gently remove from pan.

After the cookies have cooled slightly, press a chocolate chip into the thumb for an eye. Use a small piece of fruit leather and stick on for the turkey gobbler neck.

That's it!

Let the kids have fun eating their creations!